PTT allots P2.1B for expansion

PTT Philippines Corp. (PTTPC), the local unit of Thailand’s biggest oil company, is setting aside P2.1 billion to fund its expansion projects in the next five years.

The five- year investment plan, announced by PTTPC president and chief executive officer Wisarn Chawalitanon in press briefing Monday night, involves the opening of 75 new service stations, including some premier stations patterned after the design specifications and standards of its mother company, PTT Thailand.

The investment would also include renovation of existing service stations, additional depots and storage facilities, and setting up of coffee shops and convenience stores, he said.

“Every year, beginning 2014, we will be opening up 15 new stations or a total of 75 new stations in five years’ time, so we will be more visible particularly in Luzon,” Chawalitanon said.

PTT currently has 70 service stations in the Philippines, 15 of which were newly opened this year. These are in the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Pangasinan, Laguna and Quezon.

The construction of seven more stations is ongoing and is expected to open early next year.

Chawalitanon said one of these stations is PTT’s first platinum station located in Lucena, Quezon. A platinum station is bigger in size in terms of land area covered and has one-stop-shop facilities, he added.

“This is our premier station whose design has been patterned after our platinum stations in Thailand. It has a green environment setting that will make our stations different from other oil companies,” Chawalitanon said.

Apart from the Lucena platinum station, the construction of two other premier stations is also underway. These are PTT Manila East in Taytay, Rizal and the PTT Belfast in Fairview, Quezon City. Both are also expected to be opened in the first quarter of next year.

He said the company is concentrating in Luzon and the Visayas as this is geographically easier to manage. At the same time, he said the company is not closing its doors to future expansions in Mindanao.

Most of PTT stations are saturated in Luzon. It has only nine stations in the Visayas, particularly in Cebu, he said.

“Our long-term plan is to also expand in Visayas and Mindanao but our thrust for now is to establish first our presence in Luzon. Once we succeeded on this, definitely we will be moving towards southern Philippines,” the Thai executive said.