Business

Wednesday May 14, 2008

Shell plans 40 outlets in 2008


KUALA LUMPUR: Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd, which currently has more than 900 petrol stations throughout the country, intends to set up about 40 this year.

Managing director Datuk Mohzani Wahab said the company had opened 11 outlets since January.

“We are spreading our investment throughout the country this year. We are also looking at investing in Sabah and Sarawak. We are looking at some sites in Kuching and Miri at the moment,” he said at the launch of Shell FuelSave Challenge yesterday.

Mohzani, who is also the managing director for Shell Timur Sdn Bhd, said the new petrol stations would be owned by Shell Malaysia or dealers.

Datuk Mohzani Wahab (right) turning a mock key to mark the launch of the Over 1 Million Kilometres Giveaway and Shell FuelSave Challenge campaigns

To a question, Mohzani said fuel demand was growing at least 5% per annum.

“When the Government announced a 30 sen per litre petrol hike in 2006 consumers reacted and reduced their petrol consumption initially. However, once they (consumers) get used to the price hike, petrol demand picked up and stabilised,” he said, adding that Malaysia was a petrol-driven market.

Shell was still studying the plan to introduce natural gas vehicle (NGV) facilities at its petrol stations, Mohzani said, adding that talks and a lot of ground work was needed in order to introduce NGV.

Meanwhile, he said Shell would be recruiting 300 drivers from Malaysia to participate in an eight-week Shell FuelSave Challenge. The challenge is also introduced in five other countries.

Participants need to drive at least 20,000km a year, be available to attend a Shell Fuel Economy training session and log their driving data in June and July.

“Shell is committed to helping Malaysian drivers save on fuel. The challenge is part of our effort to demonstrate to drivers that they can save 10% or more fuel while driving,” he said.

To promote fuel economy, Shell has also launched the Over 1 Million Kilometres Giveaways campaign. Motorists need only to purchase RM30 of any Shell fuel and complete a contest form to qualify. Each week, for 11 weeks, there will be 700 prizes and three grand prizes.

Mohzani said the company had allocated RM6mil to RM7mil for this initiative.

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