Total, Filoil forming joint venture

French-led multinational oil firm Total has partnered with Philippine oil company Filoil to reach more customers.

The two companies have agreed to create a joint venture for the fuel sales business in the Philippines. Total said in a statement the combined business will grow Total’s network from 206 to 442 stations and its retail market share to 6 percent from 3 percent. The joint venture will benefit from a strong supply infrastructure throughout the country.

“The synergy from Total’s operational expertise and Filoil’s excellent nationwide logistics will propel our growth in the Philippine market,” said Francois Dehodencq, Total SVP for marketing and services and head of Total’s downstream business in Asia-Pacific. “This partnership allows Total to continue its development in Asia-Pacific and brings to 1,700 the number of service stations we have in the region.”

The partnership, subject to approval of government authorities, will create a marketing company and a logistics company, Total said.

The signatories to the partnership agreement were Chito Poblete, VP operations of Total Philippines; Dilip Vaswani, managing Director Total Philippines; Francois Dehodencq, SVP Total Marketing & Services Asia Pacific; Raffy Villavicencio, CEO Filoil Energy Corp.; Olivier Chalvon-Demersay, VP operations Total Oil Asia Pacific, and Manuel Gonzalez, Filoil legal counsel.