There are plans by a Nigerian oil company, Eterna Plc to increase the number of its petrol stations in Nigeria, with an intention to make some assets acquisition before 2025, which will boost the company’s operation within the country.
Eterna Plc, an operator in the nation’s downstream oil sector, plans to increase the number of its petrol stations across the country to 200 and acquire upstream oil and gas assets in the next five years.
Mahmud Tukur, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Eterna Plc, said the firm would be in a position to participate in future marginal fields bid round.
He made this revelation during a press conference on the firm’s achievements as it marked its 30 years of operation in the oil and gas industry.
“The core of Eterna’s current business is trading, fuel supply and lubricants. The company will scale up its existing business by increasing its retail presence nationwide.
“We have 39 stations currently operating, and in the next two to three months, you will see Eterna being very visible in Lagos; we are very strong in Port Harcourt and Abuja. We hope to have 200 petrol stations in the next five years. Year-on-year, you are going to start seeing us doubling our capacity.”
Eterna Plc investment plans
While disclosing the company’s investment plans, Tukur said Eterna Plc will invest in liquefied petroleum gas facilities and roll-out of LPG distribution channels nationwide using retail outlets and independent distributors.
He also addressed the technical partnership the company has with Castrol, which date back to 1991, stating that conversation is ongoing regarding the expansion of Castrol’s portfolio of local products.
“We are now in a position where we are blending different grades of Castrol products and we are continuing that conversation with Castrol to expand the portfolio of locally manufactured products.
“We currently have a small upstream operation. We are looking at acquiring marginal fields and how to deploy capital to buy producing assets. There are a lot of opportunities and gas infrastructure development that we are looking at. These are the core areas that form part of our five-year business strategy.” – Tukur
