| TOTAL and Argentina’s Distileria Argentina de Petroleo SA (DAPSA) have agreed to create a joint venture, in which the partners will hold shares of 51% and 49% respectively. The new company, TOTAL Lubricantes Argentina SA, will have exclusive rights in Argentina to market TOTAL brand lubricants and Banole, Citrole and Herbidown brand crop-protection products.
As part of the agreement, TOTAL will acquire DAPSA’s entire lubricant marketing network, replacing the DAPSA brand with its own Quartz and Rubia product lines. The lubricants will be manufactured in Argentina, in DAPSA’s Dock Sud production facility near Buenos Aires. The joint-venture will also benefit from DAPSA’s existing storage capacity.
The agreement brings TOTAL brand products into the fast-growing Argentine lubricant market, which is expanding by 3% a year and represents annual sales of 300,000 cubic meters of lubricants. Business developments outside Argentina are also planned through exports to neighboring countries, including Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia.
The agreement extends and strengthens TOTAL’s operations in Argentina, where the Group holds a leadership position in oil and gas production, operating around 22% of the country’s natural gas output. TOTAL is also present in specialty chemicals in Argentina via its Hutchinson subsidiary, which produces automobile parts locally, and in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) marketing through its new TOTALGAZ Argentina subsidiary (formerly Argon), which serves approximately 25% of the domestic market. |
