Islamabad, Aug 6: Global commodities trader Gunvor Group has agreed to purchase 50% of French oil firm TotalEnergies’s oil marketing company Total PARCO Pakistan Limited, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Total PARCO Pakistan Limited is a joint venture between Total Energies and Pak-Arab Refinery Limited in Pakistan. It is involved in petroleum logistics and lubricants and has a retail network of over 800 service stations.
The deal, according to TotalEnergies, represents its selected marketing and services strategy to concentrate on “core geographies with growth and transitioning opportunities.” However, it is still pending regulatory approval. According to the announcement, the new company will carry on with its retail operations under the Total Parco brand and its five-year lubricants business in Pakistan under the Total brand. “It’s worrying that Pakistan is no longer a core geography for Total, but at least it’s another foreigner taking over and not a complete exit,” said Adnan Sheikh, assistant vice president of research at Pak Kuwait Investment Company.
The sale of Shell Petroleum Company’s 77% stake in the local company marked the company’s announcement last year that it was leaving Shell Pakistan. The action was taken in response to losses that Shell Pakistan (SPL) sustained in 2022 as a result of fluctuating exchange rates, the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee, past-due receivables, and the nation’s financial crisis and economic recession. According to a statement from the finance ministry, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan’s federal minister for finance, met with representatives from PARCO and Gunvor Group on Monday and they reiterated their commitment to the growth of the nation’s energy industry.
