Petron lays groundwork for mini station program

By Donnabelle L. Gatdula (The Philippine Star) Updated August 31, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Petron Corp., the country’s largest oil refiner, has started laying the groundwork for its mini-station program, dubbed as “Bulilit Station.”
The program, designed to aggressively expand the company’s network, capitalizes on the opportunity of providing fuel in areas with untapped or underserved volumes.
Petron said it is encouraging investors to take part in the program by setting up their own stations, with minimal capital needed.
For potential dealers, the selection process would involve three phases: screening, training and project implementation. The company will also require interested dealers to undergo a three-day course on the basics of service station operation by the assigned sales executive in the area.
Dealers may also be required to enroll in a four-week Dealer Management Course (DMC) offered by the company at the Petron Training School.
Applicants who pass the screening stage and receive confirmation of site approval will be required to sign a Lease to Company (LTC) for at least 10 years and deposit a cash bond of P100,000.
Petron will provide dealer-applicants with the construction blueprint embodying the designs and specifications of the Bulilit Station, while the dealers themselves shall secure all necessary permits required by both national and local government units (i.e., locational, building, ECC, occupancy, business, and other necessary permits).
The dealers’ investments will consist of capital expenditure for the construction cost of the Bulilit Station, including site preparation, pre-construction phase of the project, as well as working and operating capital requirements in business operation.
Petron president Eric Recto earlier said they would spend about P450 million to put up small retail stations over the next 12 months.
This investment would allow Petron to establish around 200 more “pre-fabricated models that can start with two-three product pumps but easily expandable demand grows.”
Recto said they have started building these smaller gas stations early this year.
“We have built around 14 to 15 stations already in the provinces, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao ,” he said.
Petron’s market share stood at 39 percent as of end-2008, from 38.6 percent in 2007. It has nearly 1,300 service stations nationwide.
Recto said the oil firm’s strategy is to put up relatively small retail stations in the provinces since Metro Manila is already saturated. The 200 outlets, which will be mostly dealer-owned, will be part of the 1,000 stations it plans to put up in the next three years.
Data show that small oil players have been slowly increasing their share of the market as they offer lower-priced products than the oil majors, accounting for more than 14 percent of total industry sales.