Unipet’s Brentwood station largest in region

United Independent Petroleum Marketing Company Ltd’s (Unipet) has opened its largest gas station in the region yesterday at Brentwood, Chaguanas, to a cost of $12 million.

The service station, which took about five months to build, has 24 pumps, of which four are for compressed natural gas (CNG).

It is located at the Brentwood turn off just past the Chaguanas flyover, Uriah Butler Highway.

With this new addition, Unipet has 24 service stations under its name, with another set to open by June, Ron Milford, chief executive officer, said in an interview with the Business Guardian on Monday.

“The gas station was completed since May last year, but the developer had some challenges with some of its approvals,” said Milford.

Asked what was his expectation in terms of volume, he said, “This would be one of the largest volume station in the country with about 31 employees. I do not want to disclose my expected figure, but this is a big gas station, where 24 vehicles would be serviced at a time.”

Milford said Unipet has proposals before the Ministry of Energy for a CNG network. Presently, its Tacarigua and Brentwood stations are outfitted for CNG fills, but Milford said there were various applications presently with the ministry for new market/green market sites, which would also have a CNG facility.

He said the gas station was built within budget and on time by local contractors. 

Some of the contractors include:

• Unique Engineering Ltd 

• Petroleum Sales and Services Ltd

• Trinidad Systems Ltd

• Kenny Moses Electrical

• Automotive Components Ltd (CNG equipment supplier)

• ABEL

• Aluminum Specialists Ltd

• RB Construction General

Unipet’s mandate

Milford said the company has managed to perform well because of its mandate to keep customers satisfied, happy and to build a relationship of trust.

“Our target market is actually women, hence, we must be able to keep a clean, well-maintained, modern-looking, secure service stations with restrooms to attract our customers. We are building a brand, so it was important that we deliver the best product.”

Milford said it was very expensive to maintain his tankers and gas filters, which are done on daily basis, but ensures this cost is not passed onto customers.

“We have weathered the storm well and have plans to continue expanding.

Asked if Unipet is looking at the region, he said, “It’s on the cards.”