new shell chief to focus on local competitiveness

Pissawan Achanapornkul, 40, who will become the first chairwoman of Shell Company of Thailand in January, said yesterday she would focus on boosting competitiveness in the petrol retailing and lubricant businesses in the local market.

Shell, which has been operating in Thailand for 116 years, has a 15-per-cent market share in petrol retailing with a total of 560 service stations.

In the lubricant oil market, the local unit of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant has a share of 22 per cent.

Tiraphot Vajrabhaya, the outgoing chairman, said Shell would continue to be marketing-oriented, with emphasis on the petrol, lubricant and butamin businesses, which have better profit prospects than either oil refining or petroleum exploration.

For 2009, Shell will adopt a four-pronged strategy, covering its downstream businesses, operational excellence, product quality innovations and "the energy challenge".

Pissawan said her first mission was to start with the global corporate re-engineering plan that should put Shell Thailand in a competitive position with its global counterparts.

Under the so-called "Downstream-One" or global corporate restructuring plan, Shell will simplify and increase efficiency of the operation and management systems with information technology.

"Thailand is among the very first countries to take on this global re-engineering programme, which should result in better service quality both in the storefronts and with our business partners," she said.