French energy giant Total says it has reached an agreement with the local Demiroren corporation to sell its filling stations network in Turkey at a price of €325 million (USD 366 million).
The company issued a statement on Tuesday, saying, "After operating in Turkey for several years, we conducted an in-depth review of our position and the competitive environment.”
The statement quoted Philippe Boisseau, Total's president of marketing and services, as stating, “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 worldwide."
According to the agreement, the French company will sell 100 percent of Total Oil Turkiye, which is currently the fifth-largest fuel supplier in Turkish market, operating a network of 440 filling stations. The company’s share of the Turkish market has been estimated at 5.5 percent.
Total, however, noted that it will stay in the petroleum product market of Turkey through its lubricant activities, which includes a blending plant in Menemen. Total will also continue its operations to produce odorless liquefied petroleum gas.
Demiroren is one of Turkey's top conglomerates, which is active in various economic fields such as energy, construction and the media.
Total is planning to sell USD 10 billion of its assets between 2015 and 2017, including USD 5 billion during the current year, to adapt to low global oil prices. The company is also scaling back investments and exploration, and is also bent on reducing its operating costs.