Petroleum Trading Lao Public Company signs agreement with Puma Energy

Petroleum Trading Lao Public Company (PTL), headquartered in Vientiane, Laos, and Puma Energy, a subsidiary of Trafigura Beheer B.V., based in Singapore, signed an agreement in Vientiane last week.

The agreement was signed by PTL CEO Chanthone Sitthixay and Robert Jones, chief operations officer of Puma Energy (Singapore), in the presence of Lao Minister of Planning and Investment Souphanh Keomixay, Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office Alounkeo Kittikhoun, and Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Somchit Inthamith.

PTL, which distributes petroleum products through 138 retail stations in Laos, is listed in the Lao Stock Exchange. Chanthone said PTL had transformed its operations from a small business to become a leading player in the Lao fuels market within 10 years. Founded in 2008, the company built its first retail outlet in 2009 called PLUS 1 in Vientiane. Its first storage terminal was built in Savannakhet in the same year with a storage capacity of 800,000 liters. In 2010, the company built a 1.12-million-liter storage terminal in Vientiane and a 0.7-million-liter storage terminal in Muang Ngeun, Xayaburi Province.

“Now, the presence of Puma Energy will lead to more prosperous ties between the two companies and our company’s employees will receive an upgrade of their technical skills with more innovations and technology,” Chanthone said.

Jones said Laos is an exciting place for a company like Puma Energy to have a presence.

“This country has a vibrant economy with strong growth prospects and a fast-growing oil market, and, in fact, it can be one of the fastest growing oil markets in the world,” he said.

“We (Puma Energy) are going to bring higher quality fuel and greener oil with high technology and innovations. At the same time, we also intend to strengthen and diversify some of the supply sources and we will need to invest in infrastructure in Laos along with an improvement of the supply chain,” Jones added.