AS part of its strategic plans to enhance profitability and increase shareholders value, Forte oil Plc may diversify into the upstream sector in a near future.
Addressing stockbrokers during the company’s ‘Facts behind the Figures’ in Lagos yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Akin Akinfenwa said: “Upstream diversification is to be managed properly, considering the level of investment required. We are into petroleum retailing and marketing but if we are going into the upstream, we would form strategic alliances so that we can share the risk together because there is no technical expertise for it now.
“We have identified potential partners that will go into it with us and we are going into it as a producing assets not as a prospecting one.
“Here, we have two options; to acquire set of moribund field and bring back to production or buy an existing International Oil Companies (IOCs) as done by others. We were in this exercise a few years ago. It is a producing bloc but entry into it, we must manage it carefully in identifying the risk and getting parties to share and manage the risk.”
Akinfenwa expressed the company’s commitment to transform the company to become the investment choice through positive actions that boosts investor confidence at all times, adding that the company is currently on aggressive and strategic acquisition programme.
He added that its business transformation programme was aimed at repositioning the business on the bedrock of strong corporate governance and business ethics, enhanced safety health and environment practices, effective business control across the company as well as superior customer delivery.
For the retail business, the Forte oil boss explained that the company has concluded plans to site its branch network in such that the distance between two branches would be at the region of three kilometers.
“We would acquire market where we can drive up volume across Nigeria but it has to be strategic. It has to be three kilometers along densely populated areas where the market is booming. The exercise would be continuous without any time frame and we would continue to consolidate on it.”
The Forte Oil boss explained that the company has also invested in the acquisition of 100 trucks and tankers in order to give transporters the confidence to invest in the business.
He added that the company’s balance sheet for the expansion exercise would be funded through the combination of equity and debt .