PTT ramps up capex to P5 B

MANILA, Philippines - PTT Philippines Corp., the local unit of Thailand’s largest petroleum company, is scaling up its five-year investment plan to P5 billion to further expand its reach and improve its existing facilities starting 2017, company officials said yesterday.

In a briefing yesterday, PTT Philippines president and CEO Sukanya Seriyothin said the P5-billion capital expenditure would cover the expansion of its retail network to 300 and the Amazon Cafe brand from 2017 to 2021.

“Our previous capital [expenditure plan], we allocated P3 billion only but right now, we would like to expand more,” she said.

Funding will be covered by its parent firm PTT Public Co. Ltd. in Thailand. “We have strong financing from our mother company so no problem about our finance,” Seriyothin said.

The company is closing the year with 112 stations, 12 of which are in the Visayas region.

For next year, PTT Philippines will put up 20 stations, marketing director Thitiroj Rergsumran said.

“Roughly, 20 percent will be outside Luzon. Mainly, we still keep 80 percent in Luzon,” he said.

PTT Philippines is also looking to enter the Mindanao market, now considered as the hottest investment spot since President Duterte’s administration came in.

“Right now we’re studying [the market]. It depends on the study on when is the right time to enter the Mindanao market,” Rergsumran said.

Apart from entering a new market, the Thai oil firm is also venturing into smaller retail stations to serve the needs of communities away from major roads and highways.

It will roll out its first compact station in Urdaneta, Pangasinan before Christmas.

“We will start before Christmas. We will take a look at this one first, and then we can plan [putting up further compact stations,” Rergsumran said.

Compared to a regular station with 1,200 to 1,800 square meters land area, compact station will have between 800 to 1,000 square meters to meet the head office’s standards for fire safety and fuel tanks.

PTT Philippines also plans to put up its signature coffee shop, Amazon Café, in some of its bigger stations in the next five years, the company’s marketing director said.

Location and size of the lot area are among the company’s top considerations.

“We have to be concerned about the market also, a [surrounding] community that will support,” Rergsurman said. “Next year, we plan to have one station with one area enough to build Cafe Amazon.”