The Royal Dutch Shell Group - the world's second-largest oil company - will redesign its 570 service stations to attract more customers.

Chairman of Shell in Thailand Tiraphot Vajrabhaya said 50 stations would be rebranded in the first phase.

 Shell controls 17 per cent of the service-station market, second only to oil-retail giant PTT with nearly 40 per cent following its recent acquisition of ConocoPhillips' Jet chain.

Shell's downstream business executive director Rob Routs said the company tried hard to buy Jet.

The company is now looking for other business-growth opportunities, Routs said. Shell did acquire Jet in Malaysia and its 44 service stations and 14 vacant sites.

Besides Thailand, Shell has been rebranding its service stations in other countries including Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. It is using what it calls new "visual manifestation". The new look is necessary because of fierce competition in an oversupplied market operating on thin margins, it said.

Routs said Shell had a "grow east" strategy that takes advantage of the region's high economic growth.

In the US, petrol demand is growing between 1 per cent and 2 per cent a year while western Europe has seen flat growth. However, Chinese and Indian economic growth rates are currently 10 per cent and 6 per cent, resulting in a higher demand for petroleum products.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

The Nation