Background In March 2011,
Phoenix Petroleum, a sponsor of the PBA games, had expressed interest in acquiring a PBA franchise and were in talks to acquire the franchise of the original
Barako Bull Energy Boosters team, then-owned by the Energy Food and Drink, Inc. However, the team failed to get the two-thirds approval from the PBA Board of Governors to do so (the acquisition needed at least seven votes to proceed). Additionally,
San Miguel Corporation would later rename one of their PBA teams, the
San Miguel Beermen, to the Petron Blaze Boosters in the
2011 PBA Governors' Cup, thus putting a potential threat to Phoenix as SMC could block the competitor oil company's entry into the league. The Boosters would later revert their name back to SMB in 2014. In July 2011, a majority share of Energy Food and Drink was acquired the Lina Group led by
Alberto Lina, who also owned the original Air21 Express. This led to the Energy Boosters being renamed to the
Shopinas.com Clickers and the original Express to the newer Barako Bull Energy Cola, later shortened to
Barako Bull Energy.
Formation In January 2016, Phoenix Petroleum acquired the newer
Barako Bull Energy from the Lina Group in a deal that was reportedly worth 100 million. The PBA board of governors unanimously approved the sale on January 20. In addition, the board also gave its approval for Phoenix Petroleum to play in the
2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup instead of waiting until the 2016–17 PBA season. The coaching staff, players' contracts and contractual obligations were carried over by the new owners. After four games, he was waived and
Kevinn Pinkney took his place as the team reinforcement. On May 31, 2016, Phoenix appointed
Westports Malaysia Dragons head coach Ariel Vanguardia as the new head coach of the team, replacing
Koy Banal Phoenix's inaugural season also saw the team make multiple trades, with their most notable being the acquisition of 11-time PBA all-star
Ronjay Buenafe from the
Meralco Bolts. The team's best result during their inaugural season was an 8th place finish in the
2016 PBA Governors' Cup, which saw the team lose to the
TNT KaTropa in the quarterfinals. For the team's inaugural draft in
2016, Phoenix selected
Matthew Wright during the special round of the draft and then selected
Gelo Alolino with the second pick of the regular draft. Throughout the season, the team also made more trades, which brought
RJ Jazul and
Jeff Chan to the team. While the team saw improved results, including a 6–5 record in the
2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup, their first winning record, the team also failed to get past the quarterfinals in any of the three conferences.
2017–2022: The Matthew Wright and Jason Perkins era In the
2017 PBA draft, the team selected
Jason Perkins with the fourth pick. They also selected
Sidney Onwubere with the eighth pick, but was later traded to the
TNT KaTropa for
Justin Chua. During the first two conferences of the season, the team failed to make the quarterfinals, finishing 9th and 10th in the
2017–18 Philippine Cup and
2018 Commissioner's Cup, respectively.
2018–2020: Calvin Abueva arrives and first semifinals berths On August 7, 2018, 10 days before the start of the
Governors' Cup, the Fuel Masters traded
Karl Dehesa and a draft pick for 2019 in exchange for
Calvin Abueva. He along with Wright, Perkins and import
Eugene Phelps led the team to its first twice to beat advantage berth in the quarterfinals after posting an 8–3 record in the eliminations but lost both games to the
Meralco Bolts. During the Philippine Cup of the
following season, the team changed colors and logo from red and silver to black and red. They clinched the top seed and a consecutive twice to beat advantage in the quarterfinals with a 9–2 record. They defeated the
Alaska Aces 91–76 before losing to the eventual champion
San Miguel Beermen five games in the semifinals. Abueva got suspended indefinitely in June 2019 due to two infractions: clotheslining
TNT KaTropa import
Terrence Jones and doing obscene gestures to the girlfriend of
Blackwater Elite player
Bobby Parks Jr.. During the pandemic-shortened
2020 Philippine Cup bubble tournament, the team under the name
Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters, paraded teal and blue as its colors and a new team logo.
Topex Robinson was elevated to full-time head coach replacing
Louie Alas and
Willy Wilson joined the coaching staff after playing three seasons for the team. Abueva was allowed to re-join the roster in October 2020 after undergoing tests imposed by the league. The Fuel Master clinched a twice to beat advantage as the 2nd seed with an 8–3 record in the eliminations. They won against the
Magnolia Hotshots 89–88 before losing to the
TNT Tropang Giga two games to three in the semifinals. Several players won awards at the end of the tournament including Abueva and Wright as part of the
Elite Five,
RJ Jazul as
Mr. Quality Minutes,
Justin Chua as
Defensive Player of the Tournament. Chua and Abueva also won as members of the
All Bubble D-Fenders team. Veteran
JC Intal retired at season's end.
2021–2022: Abueva departs On February 17, 2021,
Calvin Abueva was traded to the
Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots in exchange for
Chris Banchero. Six days later, on February 23, Phoenix acquired
Vic Manuel from the
Alaska Aces for
Brian Heruela. The team fell to ninth in the eliminations of the
2021 PBA Philippine Cup, and lost in the eighth-seed playoff to
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Later in the season, the Fuel Masters traded Manuel alongside
Michael Calisaan to the
NorthPort Batang Pier in exchange for
Sean Anthony and
Sean Manganti. The team saw slight improvement, going up to eight in the
2021 PBA Governors' Cup, beating NorthPort in the eighth-seed playoff but losing to advantage holders Magnolia in one game. As the
2022–23 PBA season approached, Phoenix tried to bolster their roster by signing free agent
Javee Mocon after acquiring his rights in a trade with the
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters for
Nick Demusis. While Phoenix didn't have any first-round picks for the
PBA season 47 draft, the team selected four players in the second round alone, among them being
Tyler Tio and
Encho Serrano. The team did not make the playoffs in the
2022 PBA Philippine Cup after finishing 11th with a 3–8 record.
2022–present: Rebuilding with Jason Perkins After the
2022 Philippine Cup,
Matthew Wright's contract with Phoenix ended, and on September 2, 2022, he left the team to move to Japan's
B.League. On January 18, 2023, the team traded
Sean Anthony as well as
Jake Pascual to the
NLEX Road Warriors as part of a larger trade which saw the Fuel Masters acquire
Jjay Alejandro and
Raul Soyud for the
TNT Tropang Giga. While the team was able to make the playoffs in both the
2022–23 Commissioner's Cup and
2023 Governors' Cup, the team still wasn't able to get through quarterfinals on both occasions. In the
PBA season 48 draft, the team used their sixth pick to select
Kenneth Tuffin and then selected
Raffy Verano and
Ricci Rivero in the second round. The team also re-signed numerous players, including
Jason Perkins to a max contract, but did lose
Encho Serrano after he decided to move to the regional
Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. For the
2023–24 PBA Commissioner's Cup, the team reinforced with
Johnathan Williams as their import. The team finished with their best result since their semifinals run in 2020, a fourth-place finish with an 8–3 record, giving them the
twice-to-beat advantage. In the quarterfinals, Phoenix was matched against the
Meralco Bolts. Despite losing the first game, Phoenix utilized the advantage to win the second game and advance to the semifinals for the first time in just over three years. They then played against the
Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, who they lost to in four games of the best-of-five series. They weren't able to replicate that performance in the following
2024 PBA Philippine Cup, where they missed the playoffs after falling to 11th place in eliminations. In the
PBA season 49 draft, Phoenix selected
Kai Ballungay with the fourth pick. They then traded
Javee Mocon to the
NLEX Road Warriors to acquire
Ato Ular. Unfortunately, the team didn't make the playoffs in all three conferences of the
2024–25 season, which led to the Fuel Masters having possession of the second pick of the upcoming
PBA season 50 draft. During the 2025 off-season, the team traded
Larry Muyang, who had an indefinite ban from the PBA, to Converge, and acquired
Evan Nelle from the
NorthPort Batang Pier. A day later, the team ended up trading their second pick to the
Converge FiberXers for
Bryan Santos and the eighth pick in the upcoming draft. Phoenix would use that eighth pick to select
Will Gozum. On January 20, 2026, they tapped
Charles Tiu as their new head coach and, at the same time, reverted their team name back to Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters. ==Current roster==