Petronas to open 30–50 service stations a year

Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PDB) is looking to expand its second-place market share in Malaysia by opening additional retail outlets. The company expects to open between 30 and 50 new service stations annually in the next five years.  Currently, the company has 950 petrol stations nationwide.  Chief Executive Officer, Amir Hamzah Azizan, said, “We are looking at a market share of 40 per cent in the next three to five years as compared to 32 per cent now.”  This wholesale expansion is expected to cost the company between RM250 million (US$82.8 million) and RM400 million (US$132.6 million) annually as a capital expenditure. The funding will be from internally generated funds. PDB is also looking to aggressively expand its lubricants business to become number one. (May 26, 2011)