British multinational oil and gas company BP has inaugurated its first two branded gas stations in Guadalajara, with eight more planned by the end of the year.
According to Alvaro Granada, director of BP Mexico-Downstream, Guadalajara is destined to become one of BP’s most strategic markets.
“We are talking about 100 to 120 service stations in the metropolitan area in the next five years,” Granada said at Wednesday’s launch of the BP gasolinera on Avenida R. Michel, a few blocks from the Alamo Glorieta and the highway to the airport and Chapala.
This translates to a market share of around 15 percent, he noted.
Over the next five years, BP plans to sign 1,500 contracts for concessionaires to operate gas stations in Mexico under its brand. Granada expects around 200 to be in operation by the close of 2017.
Guadalajara’s second BP gas station is located on Calzada Independencia Norte in Colonia Paseo Bohemio.
The two new locations brings the number of BP gas stations in Mexico to 31 – the others are all in Mexico City and Estado de Mexico, the state that partially surrounds the capital.
Both stations were formerly run by concessionaires under the Pemex brand. Legislation passed in 2013 opened up Mexico’s energy sector to greater foreign participation in various spheres, including exploration.
BP will also look to inject its brand at stations in Jalisco outside the metropolitan area and doesn’t only intend to take over existing Pemex concessions but seek new sites, Granada said.
Granada said that customers can “trust the BP brand” and the quality of its “Regular” and “Premium” gas, which include an “additive” that cleans, protects and prolongs the life of motor vehicle engines.
BP is one of the world’s largest oil companies with operations in 72 countries, producing around 3.3 million barrels per day and running some 18,000 service stations.
Its biggest operation is in the United States, where it faced serious legal and public relations repercussions following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest accidental release of oil into marine waters in history. The United States accounts for almost one-third of BP’s worldwide business interests.