French oil and gas major Total SA on Friday said it is mulling entering fuel retailing in India in collaboration with a local partner. “It’s a big market with big players like Indian Oil and others having thousands of retail stations. It has been recently deregulated. Obviously we are thinking about it,” Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said at an industry event here. “I think India for us is also a matter of finding the right Indian partners,” he said, adding that Total has to find the right partner to do fuel retailing business.
Pouyanne further said: “It’s not because we are large international company and we can do very well, we have the money, the financial capacities, we have the expertise in many of these businesses, but I think it is also to understand the local ways of making business and in India we have specifics. “So, yes we have an interest, but we have to find the right partner to do the local business like most of peers have done as well.” Earlier, after meeting Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, he said Total plans to invest in expanding lPG infrastructure in India, including boosting storage capacity, import terminals and distribution network.
The firm sells lubricants and lPG in India. It had in 1998 commissioned a fully integrated lPG import terminal at Mangalore. It also has a minority stake in lNG import terminal at Hazira in Gujarat. Pouyanne said India’s growing energy market, especially lPG, lNG and renewables, were attractive for investments for Total.