FRENCH-owned Total (Philippines) Corp. has earmarked for this year more than P300 million
to expand its domestic business and operation systems, Ernst Wanten, the company president
and managing director, said on Wednesday.
At the inauguration of Total’s double-hulled, double-bottom MT Camille vessel, Wanten said the
company is here to stay amid the challenges faced last year.
“We will continue to invest in the Philippines. This year alone we have budgeted over P300
million to fund our expansion program,” said the Total executive.
Wanten added that they are ready to pour in more resources to meet the energy requirements
of the country should the right opportunities come along.
Part of its expansion program, Total recently upgraded its waterborne fleet with the acquisition
of MT Camille, a 3,651-deadweight-ton 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). IACS
assesses a ship’s structural strength and integrity, power generation, function and reliability of
systems, and other built features with regard to maintaining essential services on board.
Total said MT Camille will also go through the company’s strict vetting process to make sure the
vessel complies with regulatory standards.
Wanten said industrial safety and environmental stewardship are paramount to his company.
He added that in the case of marine transport, the acquisition of MT Camille starts with strict
selection criteria for chartered ships, followed by one of the most stringent vetting processes in
the oil industry.
“And while current shipping policies mandate a 20-year age limit to ships over 30,000 tons, we
have a modern fleet with an average age of five years,” Wanten said.;
MT Camille, which was built in 2004, can attain an average speed of 11.5 knots while carrying a
capacity of as much as 4.12 million liters of different white petroleum (gasoline, diesel and
ethanol) products.
It is also equipped with computerized cargo handling, advanced navigational, oil pollution
prevention and first-class satellite communication systems.
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 more customers in a much shorter time,” he added.
In November Wanten said they have programmed to invest P120 million in Cebu to expand their
retail network. “The plan to expand in the Visayas, through Cebu, is an indication of [Total’s]
long-term commitment of doing business in the country amid some issues that continue to
hound the industry,” he said.
Wanten said they are planning to construct at least eight to 10 retail stations in Cebu. The first
station, he added, is expected to open shortly after Christmas or before the end of the year.
Wanten said they plan to build three more retail stations around Cebu in the next six months.
The Total executive said they will also put up a P10-million depot in the province. The facility will
have a capacity to store 2 million liters of various fuel products although this can be easily
expanded to accommodate more inventory.
He added that they will continue to expand their retail stations in Luzon. “In the past 12 years of
its operations in the country, we have already invested P4 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 sales network by about 10 to 15 stations every year.
Source: business Mirror
