French oil giant Total said on September 01 it had agreed to sell its filling station network in Turkey to the local conglomerate Demiroren for 325 million euros ($366 million). "After operating in Turkey for several years, we conducted an in-depth review of our position and the competitive environment. We concluded that it would be difficult to attain a large enough retail market share to achieve the level of profitability expected for our operations world-wide," Philippe Boisseau, Total's president of marketing and services, said in a statement.
Total will sell 100 percent of Total Oil Turkiye, which is currently the fifth-largest distributor of fuel on the Turkish market with its network of 440 filling stations. Its share of the market is estimated at 5.5 percent.
Total said it will stay in the petroleum product market in Turkey through its lubricant activities, including a blending plant in Menemen and odorless liquefied petroleum gas operations. Demiroren is one of Turkey's top conglomerates with interests in energy, construction and the media.
Total plans to sell $10 billion of assets between 2015 and 2017, including $5 billion this year, to adapt to low global oil prices. The company is also scaling back investments and exploration, as well as reducing operating costs.
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