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The French Giant, Total Plans Fuel Pump Network in Algeria

09-10-2007

The French Giant,Total plans to set up a network of around 200 petrol stations in Algeria, to be operational by 2008, but has no plans for now to invest in refineries, a senior Total official said.

"We are in talks with various ministries but we are waiting for a law to pass in the autumn, defining the price structure of the products," Paolo Fiaschi, deputy manager for downstream in Africa and Middle East said on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in Paris.

He said there were currently some 2,000 petrol stations in Algeria, so Total was aiming for a 10 percent share of that market. Total has between 3,000 and 4,000 fuel pumps in Africa, based mainly in Morocco and Tunisia, he said. Fiaschi said the pumps would have handle a larger monthly flow of fuel than is now normal in Algeria.

The pumps will be fuelled by Algeria's five refineries.

Asked whether Total had refining plans in Algeria, Fiaschi said: "Not right now... we were interested in investing in a refinery project in central Algeria (Tjaret) but we gave up because there was no access to the sea."

But he said Total remained keen on refining projects, specifically in Algeria.

"Algeria is our main asset for a good refining tool that would have access to condensates and would have access to the diesel market in the Mediterranean region," he added.

He said one possibility would be upgrading current refineries based by the sea.