ExxonMobil announced today that it has signed a share sale agreement with Puma Energy for sale of the company's downstream businesses in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Jose Matus is the Country Manager for Esso Standard Oil in Belize.

Jose Matus - Country Manager, Esso Standard Oil Belize

"It's an exchange of shares; it is a change of ownership. It does not change the operations locally so the business with the facilities going full stream and the contract agreements we have with suppliers, with customers, with employees remaining the same. Because they are all part of the Esso Standard Oil SA umbrella, Esso Standard Oil SA is a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, it is a company registered in the Bahamas. We all operate as branches of Esso Standard Oil in our respective Central American countries so when the Esso company is sold, they are all included in the package. Puma and Esso are competitors in those markets and so to ensure there is fair competition Governments have to review the packages to ensure it Is beneficial in nature."

The transaction is expected to be finalized sometime in the second half of the year.

LOVEFM

Esso Morphs Into Puma

We've all grown up with the brand Esso pasted on gas stations and oil products. But can you say Puma Energy? Well, you'd better get used to it, because that's the company that will take over all of Esso's operations in Belize, from the Esso Storage Facility on Caesar's Ridge Road to the gas stations countrywide.

A release form the company says that it will be a seamless transition: all the staff, all the outlets, everything will remain, just the brand will change - and that will happen over a 12 month period starting in the second half of this year. County Manager Jose Matus told us there will just be a change in ownership, and nothing changes in operations. Puma is a global operation based in Switzerland with operations in 23 countries including Central America.

Channel 7