Total Philippines opening 20 new gas stations in 2011

Total Philippines, the local unit of French multinational oil company Total S.A., is keen on investing over P600 million to complete 20 more retail stations this year, a company official said. The expansion, however, will not cover Mindanao due to security reasons. "Mindanao is always an area, but there's always an issue of security. Especially in our company. We're very prudent about it... If you see our risk mapping, very often Mindanao is pointed out to be a red zone," said Total Philippines President Ernst Wanten. "That's how it works with big companies, you have to explain it's not all of Mindanao," he added. Wanten also pointed out that certain parts of Mindanao are points in where smuggled oil from Indonesia enters the country. The company currently has around 167 stations, mostly in Luzon. The planed expansion would bring the number up to 187 by the end of 2011. Total will be building new stations in Negros and Cebu. "We want to open at least 20 new [stations] this year, which is more than we've ever done before," Wanten said. As of August, the company as already opened 12 of the planned 20 stations, at a cost of P30 million per station. "The cost to build a service station within our norms will cost P30 million, which focuses a lot on our safety standards. You have some competitors who can build service stations for half the price because they don't have stringent safety rules, which we don't want to compromise," Wanten said. Total is eventually looking to open 300 to 350 stations in the country in order to reach "critical mass" in the oil industry. "Next year, we'll be celebrating our 15th anniversary so we would like to get down to at least 200 stations," Wanten said. — Bea Cupin/KBK, GMA News