One of the most important companies on the islands, the Trinidad and Tobago National Petroleum Marketing Company Limited (NP) was created in 1972 with the assets the government purchased from the then BP Caribbean Ltd- which was the local arm of the British Petroleum Group. With a long line of stringent business decisions this company has validated its position for over forty years and shows signs that the next forty will see them in an even stronger position. Regards to this we caught up with Acting Chief Executive Officer Kevin Motilal.

BASICALLY The Best

WRITTEN BY JACK SLATER

These purchases put NP into an enviable position, for when

NP acquired the assets of Shell Trinidad Ltd, it also inherited

its Lubricant Blending Plant at Sea Lots, on the outskirts of

Port-of-Spain and under this license, it continued to produce a range

of lubricants, blended according to the Shell formulations, until the

National Petroleum Brand of lubricants. This new brand was launched

in 1981.

To further compliment these decisions, NP invests a great amount

of effort into improving its product rating and into keeping itself

abreast of all significant technological advancements occurring in

the lubricants industry. Thanks to this rigorous pursuit of the highest

standards of quality NP has been recognized by such organizations as

the American Petroleum Institute (API), and the Trinidad and Tobago

and Caribbean markets can be counted along some of the most

advanced in the world.

Staffing ExcellenceHaving joined the company in 2000, Kevin explains how NP has

always been blessed by an abundance of experience and the highest

standard of professionalism from every one of their employees.

“When the company was bought from the nationals they also

brought over the people, so we found we had the experience straight

from the start from people who had worked extensively with Shells,

Texaco and Mobil,” he explains, “They all came together and then

recruitment was pushed locally. This has meant that National

Petroleum has always had the expertise from the multinationals and

has managed to use this to our advantage since then.”

Although National Petroleum has had its fair share of challenges

like any company, Kevin relates that they have been able to increase

their revenues every year and he explains that the key to doing so is

about taking every situation as and when it comes along which has

created the opportunity for them to become talented at problem

solving.

Customers“Our customer service is specialized and powerful,” Kevin attests,

“We service customers’ needs and trouble shoot for them. We also

have training courses and technical seminars throughout the chain

to ensure the best quality work from our staff, and this includes the

people on the floor to the managers at the top.”

He goes on to explain that thanks to them having their own

blending plant, they sell the basic products that are most needed and

that it is easy for them to tweak the front product or their formulations

to match their customer’s needs.

2014 has already promised a lot of potential for NP, “The market

is good,” Kevin relates, “We are looking to further develop our twenty

NATIONAL PETROLEUM MARKETING COMPANY LTD

“NP’s early development came about thanks to the Government investing and purchasing into a number of large conglomerates who had positions on the island,” Kevin opens up, “This including such things as a fifty percent of the inland marketing assets of ESSO Standard Oil in 1973 and the marketing assets for the Trinidad and Tobago Oil Company- formerly Shell Trinidad Limited, in ’76 which was followed a year later by the local marketing assets of Texaco Trinidad Ltd.”

four hour Quick Shops, which have been supplementing our service

station business since the late 90s. These have always provided a

direct access point for many of our customers because we can sell our

own brand of lubricants as well as other essentials,”

Trinidad is very industrialized with a wide customer base and NP

have created their own grease plant, which will be the only one in the

region and will supply product to various industries such as oil rigs,

refineries, small manufacturing plants and the transport industry. The

aviation fuel business is a thriving one and is growing in strides thanks

to the two busy airports of Trinidad and Tobago and they also own the

license to sell LPG in Trinidad and Tobago under the Ultra and BluGas

brands respectively

“We ensure that LPG- liquefied petroleum gas- is available

to all customers,” he says, “And we police and monitor our own

manufacturing chain to ensure the best product and service for our

customers.”

With self-sufficiency being high on their priorities, NP supports its

LPG business with its own LPG Cylinder Filling Plant.

This year will also see NP making full use of their marine bunkering

license, with which they do contract blending for companies such as

Petcom and BP.

“We did a lot of promotions

last year,” Kevin says, “So this

year we will be consolidating the

developments and exposure from

these. The market is growing

while we, over the last couple of

years have not been keeping up

with it. We’re focussed on getting

back into new business with

aggressive marketing. Of course

there is a limited budget so we

use it wisely, making sure we get

our bang for the buck.”

“There is the same effort

needed for a small sale as a big

sale,” he continues, “So we aim

for bigger customers in bigger

markets to see greater financial

results.”

And importantly is the

ongoing thrust on promotions

specifically for their convenience

stores, which is the main focus

rather than the gas side.

“On the lubricant sides we

are getting back into rallying

and boat racing to get image out

there,” he tells us, “The Boats

Name is “Rush” and it’s a local

vessel. It’s important to not only

get the name out there but also

to support local talent to help

build the buzz. This will help us

in our expansion plans where we

want to use our expertise to get

into the other islands. This is in

progress through Haiti, Jamaica

and Panama.”

Green FocusNP have been tinkering

NATIONAL PETROLEUM MARKETING COMPANY LTD

around for a long time with

green initiatives, on the liquid

fuels they make use of CNG

compressed national gas

which has less emissions, “We

actually have three refuelling

stations on the island and we

supply CNG to eight stations

and are looking at building

a Shell station that would

include CNG as option.”

Cars can be easily

modified with a kit to make

use of CNG as a primary of a

hybrid method of fuelling and

the government is currently

looking into giving tax breaks

for petrol and diesel cars that

have a CNG kit.

Another push, both in

media and in action is the

recovery of lubricating

oils, “Lubricants need to

be disposed of in a certain

fashion to keep them safe

and to make it convenient we

offer to take back used oil and

we pay for disposal.”

Finally, Kevin explains

that the main driving force

of NP, something that is

ingrained into their culture

as a business is their ongoing

mission to ensure the safe,

reliable, convenient and

economical availability of

quality petroleum products

throughout Trinidad and

Tobago, “This is how we will

continue for the next forty

two years.”

With premium products and troubleshooting from Renkert Oil.

We are a proud supplier and business partner supporting NPMC and their high-quality lubricant products.

Call us for the right solution – and the right quantity – for your application.✓ Base oils ✓ Process oils ✓ White oils ✓ Transformer oils

(800) 423-6457www.RenkertOil.com

Authorized Base Oil distributor for Chevron Group II/II+

Authorized Base Oil distributor for Neste Oil Group III

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Renkert Oil, LLC has partnered with

NPMC for many years and is proud to be

associated with their high-performing

organization. Renkert provides the

base oils that are components of every

quality lubricant NPMC manufactures.

The relationship has been a highlight

for Renkert employees, customers and

suppliers, and they congratulate NPMC

on many years of success.

With premium products and troubleshooting from Renkert Oil.

We are a proud supplier and business partner supporting NPMC and their high-quality lubricant products.

Call us for the right solution – and the right quantity – for your application.✓ Base oils ✓ Process oils ✓ White oils ✓ Transformer oils

(800) 423-6457www.RenkertOil.com

Authorized Base Oil distributor for Chevron Group II/II+

Authorized Base Oil distributor for Neste Oil Group III

How Big WheelsKeep on Turnin’…How Big Wheels

Keep on Turnin’…

www.littlegatepublishing.com

NATIONAL PETROLEUM MARKETING COMPANY LTD

001 868 6251364

WWW.NP.CO.TT