Shell commits to expanding gas stations as some rivals retreat

Bloomberg

While many oil producers are stepping back from their retail operations, Royal Dutch Shell Plc is doubling down.
Shell, which has about 44,000 filling stations around the world, opened its first one in Mexico last year, the start of $1 billion in investments over the next decade. Shell also is ramping up spending in China, India, Indonesia and Russia, Istvan Kapitany, head of Shell’s global retail business, said in an interview in Calgary.
Even Canada, where other companies have recently sold their retail operations, will see increasing investments. Shell added 50 gas stations in the country last year, bringing its total to about 1,300, and plans to build another 50 this year while also rolling out new features to capture more of drivers’ retail dollars and building up its business for commercial customers, he said.
“We have very, very ambitious growth plans, and Canada is part of that,” Kapitany said in an interview in Calgary. Meanwhile, others have been leaving. Chevron Corp. last year sold its gas stations and a refinery in British Columbia for about $1.1 billion. Imperial Oil Ltd., majority owned by Exxon Mobil Corp., sold almost 500 company-owned stations to a group of five fuel distributors for $2.1 billion in 2016.