Total Philippines President to Present at PetrolWorld Forum

Total Philippines have made a number of investment announcements in recent months. Mr Wanten said they have programmed to invest php300 (us$6.5m) in the Philippines with Php120 million (us$2.6m) in Cebu to expand their retail service station network. “The plan to expand in the Visayas, through Cebu, is an indication of Total Philippines long-term commitment of doing business in the country.” Total opened its first service station in Cebu in December 2009and  Mr Wanten said they are planning to construct at least five more retail service stations in the province. All of these service stations should be complete by the end of 2010.

The Total executive said they have also constructed a fuel storage depot in the province. The facility has have a capacity of 2 million liters of various fuel products although this can be expanded. He added that they will continue to develop their retail service stations in Luzon. “In the past 12 years of our operations in the country, we have already invested Php4 billion in the country. The focal point remains to be Luzon since there are still a lot of opportunities in the island-region,” Wanten said. Total has been expanding its retail network by about 10 to 15 stations every year.

As part of its expansion program, Total recently upgraded its waterborne fleet with the acquisition of MT Camille, a 3,651-deadweight-ton double hulled vessel, which is under an exclusive time charter with Sun Marine Corp. Total said MT Camille is classified by the Korean Register of Shipping to have been accredited by the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS).

Dexter Flores, Total vice president for operations, said the new vessel will improve the efficiency of the company’s waterborne distribution network by as much as 30 percent. “Its bigger capacity, faster speed and higher discharging rate mean that we will be able to deliver more products to our customers in a much  shorter time,” he added.

PetrolWorld  010310