5 months ago
23
Petroleum marketing company, Regency Petroleum Company Limited, RPL, is actively seeking out partnerships as its chosen means of building out its dealership network that already has two outlets in operation and one that’s in the process of development.
The third station being constructed at Spanish Town Road in Kingston is expected to be commissioned into service by the end of June, and RPL CEO Andrew Williams says he wants to watch how the station performs for at least two full quarters before determining whether to build more stations.
The other two stations are both located in the parish of Westmoreland.
Regency Petroleum, which is also a distributor of liquid petroleum gas, reported a 74 per cent improvement in first quarter profit at $34 million, on the back of a 121 per cent growth in sales to $404.68 million. Williams said the increase was due to the two outlets that come on stream in Westmoreland.
The gas station in Kingston is a $200-million investment that’s backed by lead financier GK Investments. Regency is in the process of installing and testing pumps for the end-of-month opening of the outlet.
Meanwhile, Regency Petroleum is in the final stages of negotiating partnership arrangements that will see the opening of two other stations, one in western Jamaica and the other in central Jamaica. Williams, who declined to identify the precise locations, citing competitive reasons, says partnerships like those would form the way forward for RPL over the near to medium term.
As for the company’s LPG operation, Williams credited the new distribution partnership with Jus Gas for the eight per cent increase in the volume of gas that Regency supplies to the market.
Under the arrangement that was struck in July 2023, Jus Gas Distributors is contracted to supply bulk gas under a franchise arrangement in the Kingston metropolitan area. And now Williams says he is open to discussions with other companies to explore similar arrangements.
“If you’re passionate about any aspect of the business, whether it be automotive fuels or LPG, if you have that passion and you have an existing business or you’re about to go into a business, then we’re open to conversations, negotiations and agreements,” Williams said.
Such agreements can take the form of franchising arrangements where existing or new retailers with their own infrastructure can sell petroleum products under the RPL brand, he said.
English (US) ·