Petrocam Opens Another Solar-Powered Station In Lagos

The Managing Director of Petrocam Trading Nigeria Limited, Mr. Patrick Ilo has said the company is planning to set up about 50 petrol filling stations over the next five years in the country.

While disclosing this at the inauguration of the company’s 11th solar-powered station at Igando, Lagos, Ilo described the new station as a one-stop shop for Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), Automotive Gas Oil (diesel), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas), lubricants and other services, with a capacity for about 270,000 litres.

He said: "in the space of time we are moving fast because we started this expenditure in 2014. We have been growing exponentially and in terms of the geometry I think we are doing very well. We are going to open another one next month and in December this year. The filling station we are officially opening today is a one stop shop, it has a lube, it is solar powered and we are not on national grid. The capacity of the station is about 270000 litres."

He expressed optimism about the nation’s oil and gas downstream sector, noting that the sector has seen a high level of sanity with most of the operators adhering to global best practices.

“The downstream oil and gas sector is optimistic and promising; there is sanity, the standards are coming up and if you look at the standards on a daily basis, people are raising the standards and with the trend of population growth, I think there is lots of prospect for the sector,” he added.

Responding to operators complaints about thin margins, he said margins would generally grow thin because the oil and gas downstream business is voluminous, but advised that operators not to short-change the unsuspecting Nigerian consumers.

He added: “Operators should know that margins generally would grow thin, because it is a volume business, we must make sure that we are able to expand our markets, by bringing more people into the market. People should make sure a litre remains a litre despite the thinning margin.

Petroleum business is a spirit business and that is why it is called Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) whereas if you cheat the unsuspecting consumers, it would have a reverberating effect on your business. It is a very spiritual product and if you cheat people, you will not last.