TotalEnergies opens new Kisumu outlet in expansion drive

TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya Plc has opened a new fuel station at Mowlem in Kisumu as part of its expansion drive.

The launch comes just a month after the company also opened a new fuel filling station in Bomet, which was its first in the tea-rich county located in the south of the Rift Valley.

The company, which is listed on the Nairobi securities Exchange (NSE), currently has over 240 stations countrywide. The stations offer oil products and services including non-fuel services.

The opening of a new outlet in Kisumu, Kenya’s third largest city, is part of its strategy to expand its retail network. This comes at a time when its fierce competitors are also expanding their networks.

“(We) officially welcomed our customers to TotalEnergies Mowlem in Kisumu,” the company announced on Monday.

The profit margin earned oil marketing companies (OMCs) operating in Kenya such as TotalEnergies has been capped by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) for more than five years.

The stagnant profit margin, coupled with rising operational costs, is forcing OMCs to expand into new business lines by offering non-fuel services at their retail stations. These include convenience shops, carwash and service bays. They also lease space to third parties who offer services such as restaurants, laundries and chemists.

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“TMK has a vast network of over 240 service stations spread across the country, availing high quality products and services closer to our customers. The Company continues to accelerate the retail footprint expansion with the opening of new stations,” says the company in its latest annual report.

The firm, which is a subsidiary of French oil giant TotalEnergies, is the third largest oil marketing company (OMC) in Kenya with a market share of 15.06%. This is after it was recently surpassed by Rubis Energy, another French company, which has a share of 15.56%.

Vivo Energy, which operates the Shell brand, is the largest OMC in Kenya by market share, commanding a share of 22.24%. Kenya’s downstream oil market continues to grow, attracting hundreds of new oil dealers who are eating into the margin of the established OMCs.

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