Total earmarks $30 M for expansion this year

Total Petroleum Philippines Corp. (TTPC), one of the largest among the new oil players in the country, is allocating $30 million (P1.5 billion) for its expansion program this year.

TTPC president and managing director Jeff Attwood told reporters during the inauguration of its oil depot in Bataan last Monday that the amount will be used to put up 20 additional new stations within Metro Manila.

Thus far, TTPC has captured two percent of the local oil market.

"We hope that we could be able to gain more ground in the near future," he said, adding that they now corner more than 10 percent of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market.

Since its entry in the local oil industry in 1997 (the start of the deregulation of the industry), TTPC has so far invested about $60 million.

He said the $30-million expansion budget for this year excludes the $10 million (P500 million) that will be used by the company to finance the construction of a so-called wet terminal (storage of fuel) in Metro Manila.

Based on its five-year plan, TPPC will be putting up at least 100 service stations all over the country. So far, it has 26 service stations. According to the TTPC executive, this wet terminal will complement the $20-million oil depot it recently opened in Bataan.

"The next major investment (after the $20-million distribution terminal in Bataan) which is still subject for approval by our board in Paris is the secondary wet terminal within Manila," he said.

He said the board of TotalFinaelf, its mother company, is expected to approve this new venture by the middle of the year.

Attwood said they would like to be able to have a facility that would accommodate the needs of their Manila-based customers. "Obviously, we are able to import products here but we would like to be masters of our own destiny with regard to the Manila market," he said.

He noted that the wet terminal, which is expected to have a capacity of 80,000 to 170,000 barrels of oil, will also be cost effective for the company.