european edition - ErpecNews

an international retail petroleum news digest 

www.erpecnews.com 

Hungarian State to re-purchase MOL shares 

A series of direct negotiations between representatives 

of the Hungarian Government and 

those of Surgutneftegas, a Russian oil company, 

has been concluded with an agreement on the 

fate of a 21.2 percent MOL share package 

held by the company. In the wake of intense 

discussions performed in rapid succession, it 

has been decided that the Government wishes 

to repurchase the entire package. This measure 

is the first, an internationally significant, 

step towards a governmental strategy aimed at 

increasing the weight of the State's participation. 

The acquisition of an ownership share in 

a successful national energy company that is 

also a market leader in Central and Eastern 

Europe will increase public property, stabilise 

the regional and the domestic energy market and 

add to the safety of energy supply in Hungary 

and abroad. The agreement also marks the 

removal of a serious barrier to further development 

in Hungarian-Russian bilateral relations. 

NIS will invest US $ 1.31 billion by 2013 

Naftna Industrija Srbije AD, the Serbian refinery 

controlled by OAO Gazprom Neft, may invest as 

much as 90 billion dinars (US $ 1.31 billion) in 

exploration and upgrades by 2013 and possibly 

offer shares through a foreign bourse. With 

the former Yugoslav Republic emerging from 

recession, companies are looking to expand and 

raise more cash from investors. NIS may branch 

out into electricity generation and chemical 

Slovenian Petrol to acquire stations in Croatia 

The Slovenian oil company Petrol plans to invest 

an additional 75 million euros in the Croatian 

market with the aim to acquire 20 more petrol 

stations by 2014. The Petrol Group has sold 

547 000 tonnes of petroleum derivatives in the 

production as it seeks to gain market share in 

the Balkans, according to a development plan 

through 2020. The plan is based on research 

of Serbian and regional markets where the 

company is looking for possible acquisitions. 

NIS's sees its cumulative gas and oil production 

more than tripling to 5 million tons of oil 

equivalent and trade volume nearly doubling 

to 4.5 million tons by the end of the decade. 

first three months of this year, an 8 percent 

increase over the same period in 2010. Petrol 

owns 443 petrol stations – 313 in Slovenia, 

80 in Croatia, 38 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 

five in Serbia and three in both Montenegro. 

Issue No 28 | June / July 2011 

european edition 

OMV announces 

new CEO & organisational 

structure 

OMV Chief Executive Officer Gerhard 

Roiss announced Gülsüm Azeri as new 

CEO of OMV's Turkish operations including 

Petrol Ofisi as of 1st July 2011. Melih 

Türker, Chief Executive Officer of Petrol 

Ofisi since 2007, will leave the company 

after a structured hand over period. “We 

want to thank Melih Türker for his commitment 

to Petrol Ofisi, which he has 

positioned as clear market leader in the 

retail and wholesale business, especially 

in challenging times”, Roiss stated. OMV 

decided to pool its power generation as 

well as power and gas sales and logistics 

activities in Turkey under a Turkish Gas 

and Power Holding which is currently 

in the process of being established. The 

new Turkish Gas and Power Holding's 

parent company will be OMV Enerji 

Holding A.Ş. which is also the majority 

shareholder of Petrol Ofisi A.Ş. 

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erpecnews is published monthly by McLean Events 

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McLean Events 

tOtaL secures deal with the UaE 

TOTAL has secured a deal that will see the 

firm supply an extra 100 000 tonnes of fuel 

in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between 

June and September 2011. The company 

was issued the tender by UAE's fuel retailer 

Emirates General Petroleum Corporation, 

as concerns continue to grow over shortages 

across the country. As part of the arrange- 

Orlen Lietuva to supply filling stations in Ukraine 

Orlen Lietuva and SOCAR Energy Ukraine, 

a subsidiary of Azerbaijan's SOCAR, have 

agreed on the supply of Lithuanian Euro 5 

LatESt NEwS, EVENtS, JObS ONLINE – www.PEtrOLPLaza.COM 

ment, TOTAL will receive a US $ 9 (£ 5.48) 

premium against the average monthly price 

of Brent crude. There have been a number of 

cases of fuel running out across the UAE in 

recent weeks, as demand continues to outstrip 

supply. The industry is heavily funded by the 

government in order to ensure living costs 

across the nation remain affordable. 

fuel to the SOCAR retail chain in Ukraine. 

The Fuel Supply Manager for Ukraine at Orlen 

Lietuva, Julius Nemunis, said that SOCAR is 

planning to use Lithuanian fuel to produce 

its own NANO petrol. “Yes, SOCAR really 

plans to produce its own petrol on the basis 

of our product. The talks with the company 

were a success and the decision to do this 

was taken.” The agreements between the two 

companies were confirmed in the Ukrainian 

office of SOCAR. 

topaz bid £ 300 million for UK fuel business 

Ion Equity, the Dublin investment firm 

that owns the Topaz fuel business, made a 

£ 300 million bid to buy almost 800 filling 

stations in Britain. Neil O'Leary, Chief Executive 

of Ion, confirmed that the firm bid for 

the British assets of TOTAL, the French fuels 

group, which have been on the market for a 

number of months. However, Ion did not make 

it to the final stages of the sale process after 

being outbid by competitors and private equity 

players. TOTAL is now in exclusive talks to 

sell the stations to a consortium that includes 

Heron, the property and investment group 

run by billionaire Gerald Ronson. O'Leary 

said that Ion Equity was actively pursuing 

other acquisitions. 

bulgaria threatens thousands of businesses 

The National Revenue Agency (NRA) 

has said that thousands of businesses in 

Bulgaria risk closure at the beginning of 

October 2011 if they fail to comply with 

legislation in force since January this 

year, Bulgarian media reports said. All 

cash registers in petrol stations and other 

establishments were supposed to be wired 

directly to the NRA, according to a new 

Finance Ministry measure in force since 

8th January. The measure aims to tackle the 

grey economy and tax evasion. According 

to the report, to date about 15 000 firms, 

or 7.5 percent of the total in Bulgaria, have 

been electronically linked to the NRA. The 

remaining 185 000 or thereabouts, however, 

have not and have only about three 

months to do so. 

SOCar to expand activities in romania 

The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani 

Republic (SOCAR) plans to continue purchasing 

petrol stations in Romania, SOCAR 

head Rovnag Abdullayev said. SOCAR 

has already purchased 14 petrol stations 

in Romania and will purchase more. The 

company plans to launch 7 petrol stations in 

Romania under its own brand and has started 

rebranding the other 7 stations. The stations 

are located in the north-east of Romania, 

near the Moldovan border. SOCAR plans 

to open a total of 300 petrol stations under 

its own brand. It operates petrol stations in 

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine.

Italian beauty and absurdity 

When luxury becomes a commodity, there's 

little left but to make commodities luxurious. 

The image shows a newly constructed petrol 

Crime cost the UK £ 22 million in 2010 

Crime on Britain's forecourts cost fuel retailers 

over £ 22 million in 2010, a £ 3 million rise on 

the 2009 figures according to the annual forecourt 

crime survey conducted by BOSS. The 

British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS) 2010 

survey says, the main source of the estimated 

total loss is £ 15.5 million is resulting from 

‘drive off’ incidents. A further £ 4.5 million is 

Hellenic Petroleum also part of Greek asset sales 

Greece's biggest refiner Hellenic Petroleum 

was included in the country's privatisation 

plan, according to an EU / IMF report. Greece 

will sell its 35.5 percent stake in Hellenic 

in the first quarter of 2012, according to 

a provisional list of privatisation assets attached 

to the report. Hellenic Petroleum 

has a market capitalisation of 2.06 billion 

euros (US $ 3 billion). It is listed on the 

station in Cuneo, Piemonte, Italy, designed 

by Damilano Studio Architects and it's rather 

pleasant to look at if modern architecture is 

your thing. Reinforced concrete enclosing a 

glass wall creates staggered, latitudinal forms 

that are sliced by aluminum canopies front 

and back, with blood red fuel pumps. At the 

back is a red steel block bearing a work of 

art that looks like a long armed, dog-headed 

man on a toilet. It is actually “a wolf howling, 

illuminated at night, drawing attention to 

that urgent need”! 

lost from motorists claiming to have ‘no means 

of payment’ (NMoP) on the day and then they 

fail to return to clear their debt. The combined 

drive off and NMoP loss for the average UK 

service station in 2010 compared with the 

previous year has risen by 2.5 percent in terms 

of litres, but in reality by 19 percent in cash 

terms due to the effect of increased fuel prices. 

Athens Stock Exchange. The company runs 

refineries in Greece and Macedonia and 

petrol stations across southeast Europe and 

in Cyprus. Hellenic's biggest single shareholder 

is POIH Investment Ltd, with a 41 

percent stake. The company had hitherto 

not been included in Greece's privatisation 

plans, which are to raise 50 billion euros by 

2015 to pay down debt. 

bP rolls out contactless payment terminals 

BP petrol stations, together with its German 

unit Aral, will begin accepting MasterCard 

PayPass contactless payments across its UK, 

Swiss and German forecourts over the next 

two years. Under the new development, consumers 

with PayPass-enabled payment cards 

will be able to pay for BP / Aral purchases up 

to the value of £ 15 (US $ 24.63) in the UK, 

25 euros in Germany and 40 Swiss francs 

in Switzerland as the roll-out of contactless 

terminals across the three countries commences. 

Consumers can also continue to use 

the same cards for higher value transactions if 

Orlen deutschland to buy 200 – 250 petrol stations 

German unit of listed fuel giant PKN Orlen, 

Orlen Deutschland, intends to buy petrol 

stations in Germany, CEO Jozef Niedworok 

said during a Polish-German economic forum. 

“We want to buy 200 – 250 more stations in 

Germany”, Niedworok confirmed. The firm's 

mid-term goal is to have 750 stations in five 

years at the latest “but we want to start network 

authenticated with a PIN or signature. As of 

the first quarter of 2011, more than 92 million 

PayPass cards and devices have been issued 

for use at approximately 311 000 merchant 

locations worldwide. 

expansion right now”, Niedworok added. The 

cost of a single station acquisition is estimated 

at 100 000 – 200 000 euros or up to 1 million 

euros in very good locations. Its scope of 

operations in the country may expand beyond 

that region and while buying new stations, 

Orlen Deutschland will have to close tens of 

unprofitable ones, the CEO also said. 


NEwS – EUrOPE 

dresser wayne 

modifies brand name 

GE announced that Dresser Wayne will 

now operate as Wayne. The new brand 

name will go to market with the tagline, 

“A GE Energy Business”. GE acquired 

Dresser, Inc., including its Dresser 

Wayne business segment, in February 

2011. The determination to maintain 

the individual Wayne brand came after 

researching the existing equity of the 

Wayne name and the value it holds for 

fuel retailers worldwide. 

Ukrgazvydobuvannia 

to buy stations & oil 

depots in Ukraine 

According to the Ukrainian Economic 

Development and Trade Ministry, Ukrgazvydobuvannia 

is buying 69 filling 

stations from eight firms for 1.281 billion 

hryvnias and three oil depots from 

Chernihiv-based Atikva for 37.58 million 

hryvnias. The largest number of filling 

stations will be bought from Atikva – 42 

filling stations for 718.63 million hryvnias. 

Ukrgazvydobuvannia is to buy from one 

to nine filling stations from each other 

company. Apart from Atikva, the sellers 

are Vek Ltd. (Odesa region), Kalyna- 

Zakarpattia Ltd. (Zakarpattia region), 

Bina Ltd. (Kharkiv), Borol subsidiary, 

Regen Oil Ltd. (Cherkasy), Merkator 

Filling Stations Ltd. (Poltava region) and 

Agrokhimservice Ltd. (Sumy). According 

to the announcements, Ukrgazvydobuvannia 

is planning to buy the filling stations 

using its own funds. 

Foreign fill-ups keep 

Luxembourg's motor 

running 

Three quarters of all fuel sold in Luxembourg 

is taken abroad to neighbouring 

France, Belgium and Germany. Lower fuel 

taxes in the duchy mean “tank tourism” 

is big business. Wasserbillig – meaning 

“cheap water” – is a picturesque village 

in Luxembourg. Despite its name, it's 

cheap gas, not water, that the village 

is known for. Most of the cars driving 

through here are heading to one of the 

11 gas stations on the main street, and 

almost all the cars have German license 

plates. Luxembourg is said to rely on 

this flow of business and the money 

it brings. If that were taken away, the 

country would have to be subsidized in 

some way by Europe. 

3


4 LatESt NEwS, EVENtS, JObS ONLINE – www.PEtrOLPLaza.COM

Irving Oil interested in Icelandic companies 

Representatives from the Canadian company 

Irving Oil are in Iceland meeting with the 

executives of Icelandic oil companies and 

familiarizing themselves with their operations. 

They might even invest in either N1 

or Skeljungur (Shell Iceland). Irving Oil 

had plans to import fuel and operate fuel 

stations in the country 20 years ago. However, 

the three Icelandic oil companies, 

ESSO (now N1), Olís and Skeljungur joined 

forces in fighting off the competition. The 

Competition Authority later determined 

that the oil companies violated the laws on 

competition with their actions. Currently, 

both the owners and the operation of N1 

are heavily indebted. A financial reorganization 

is underway and claimants may take 

the company over this summer. It has also 

been discussed that N1's owners will sell 

the company. 

MOL buys third-largest Slovenian fuel retailer 

Slovenian trade and telecoms group Tus Holding 

has sold Tus Oil, Slovenia's third-largest fuel 

retailer, to Hungarian oil company MOL. Tus 

Oil has 19 filling stations while MOL had 12 filling 

stations in Slovenia prior to the purchase. 

The value of the purchase was not disclosed. 

Motoring coalition wants fuel price investigation 

A European coalition of motoring groups 

has written to the European Union demanding 

an investigation into the soaring price 

of petrol, claiming that market pricing is 

“far from transparent”. With petrol prices 

reaching record highs, the Federation Natio- 

nale d'Automobile (FIA), which represents 

35 million drivers, has demanded an inquiry 

into how benchmark prices are set at Europe's 

key trading centre, the Rotterdam spot 

market. The FIA's letter calls on Joaquin 

Almunia, the EU Competition Commissioner, 

to look into “transparency in crude oil 

and oil product prices” and “investigate the 

influence and proper functioning of pricefixing 

mechanisms as at the Rotterdam spot 

market for finished products”. The British 

Petrol Retailers' Association will also refer 

its concerns to the Office of Fair Trading, 

asking for it to look at the “grave issue” of 

transparent pricing and its impact on the 

retail market. 

Shell seeks buyers for 260 gasoline stations in Canada 

Royal Dutch Shell has said that it is looking 

for a buyer for its 260 retail gasoline stations 

in Canada as part of the oil giant's plan to sell 

$ 5 billion of assets this year. Out of 1 600 

gas stations Shell has in Canada the company 

plans to sell 260 retail stations in Quebec and 

the Maritime provinces in Eastern Canada. 

The company is looking for a buyer who will 

operate the stations under the Shell banner 

since it has an established brand name. The 

260 stations have convenience food stores, car 

washes and other customer-driven services. Shell 

said that the sale will exclude five joint venture 

sites and 190 reseller outlets in the region. 

German cartel office claims slammed by fuel companies 

Germany's cartel office wants to counter the 

influence over German gasoline sales and prices 

of the dominant five companies by limiting 

their ability to buy filling stations in future, a 

German newspaper reported. The newspaper 

cited a cartel office report as saying the five 

companies whose influence it has reportedly 

criticised – led by the local units of BP, operator 

of the Aral outlets and Shell – would 

only be able to buy stations in exceptional 

circumstances. The cartel office would either 

bar further purchases by the companies “or 

only approve them under certain terms and 

conditions”, the paper quoted the report as 

saying. Recent German media reports say 

the cartel office believes the major retailers 

move in tandem so that price moves appear 

to be concerted, though without breaking 

any law however no evidence of price fixing 

has been found. 


review 


It was the most wonderful setting, on 

the outskirts of Europe's favourite city, 

Barcelona, that erpec took place once 

again, with over 200 delegates attending 

from Europe's retail petroleum sector. 

Coming from 26 countries, representing 

oil companies, retailers, equipment suppliers, 

distributors and PMC's, the mix 

of companies taking part was much of 

what made this event the most special so 

far. Joining the programme this year were 

many first time delegates from Eastern 

Europe, including representatives from oil 

companies SOCAR, Parallel and TNK-BP. 

Two days of one to one meetings, around 

1 200 in total, followed a lively conference 

programme on the first day, featuring 

speakers from Circle, Petrogas, Topaz, 

Eurotank, Wincor Nixdorf and sponsor 

for the session OPW. The papers are all 

available on request. First time delegate 

Rasim Gurbanov from SOCAR said: ‘My 

expectations have been more than exceeded, 

I have gained a lot of new knowledge and 

will keep some unforgettable impressions.’ 

Pavel Batyushin from Logintech, who 

was helping us a lot before the event to 

build some solid bridges into the Eastern 

European market commented: ‘Many 

thanks for the invitation to erpec 11. It 

was a really new experience in my business 

practice and the participants from TNK-BP 

and PARALLEL can confirm that as well. 

I am sure erpec 13 will attract more people 

from CIS / Baltic market which I consider 

one of the most prospective ones in our 

industry. I will be pleased to be invited.’ 

The farewell dinner on the last evening 

featured a live Queen tribute band, 

which played to an audience which was 

completely won over by the music and 

the performance, sending everyone 

home with ‘We are the Champions’ still 

ringing in their ears. A perfect end, to a 

perfect event! 

5


6 

tOtaL's F1 corporate 

advertising campaign 

continues 

For the third consecutive year, under 

contract with Renault and partnering 

with the Lotus Renault GP Team, TOTAL 

continues to develop its image in France 

and worldwide with its Formula One, 2011 

corporate campaign. The 2011 campaign 

objective is to consolidate TOTAL's image 

as a bold, innovative company, as 

reflected in the participation in Formula 1 

racing. It showcases TOTAL's position 

as a partner you can count on: “TOTAL, 

partner of your challenges”, in this event 

as well as in other major projects. See 

TOTAL's ads at Nice Airport (France) 

during the Monte Carlo Grand Prix and 

discover the F1 Lotus Renault GP car 

in Terminal 1. 

Supermarkets in UK 

cut fuel prices 

Three of the UK's main supermarkets have 

cut petrol prices – Morrisons was the first 

to drop its fuel prices – announcing a cut 

of 1 p per litre for petrol and 3 p per litre 

for diesel. It also promised diesel would 

be no more than 140 p per litre and that 

petrol would fall to an average of 135.2 p. 

Asda then followed by announcing identical 

cuts to petrol and a 4 p cut on diesel, stating 

that maximum prices at its filling stations 

would be 135.7 p per litre for diesel and 

134.7 p per litre for petrol. Tesco joined in 

shortly after, saying it would cut unleaded 

prices by 1 p per litre and diesel by 3 p 

per litre, matching Morrisons. The cuts 

come after the AA called on fuel sellers 

to pass on the falling price of wholesale 

petrol, which has been dropping for the 

past month. 

KazMunaiGas plans 

to purchase Helios 

In July the KazMunaiGas company is 

planning to start the purchase of the 

Helios chain of petrol stations. The 

Helios company owns 228 petrol stations 

in Kazakhstan and purchases fuel at 

the Pavlodar oil refinery. In 2010 petrol 

consumption reached 3.5 million tonnes, 

680 tonnes of jet fuel and about 4 million 

of diesel fuel. The KazMunaiGas, Helios 

and Sinoil are the largest retail players at 

the Kazakhstan market. 

Carmakers rethink sustainability approach amid 

E10 fuel fiasco in Germany 

Germany's introduction of the E10 biofuel has 

been a public-relations disaster and the auto 

industry is already rethinking its approach 

to sustainability. E10 was supposed to be a 

step towards Germany's clean-energy future. 

Spurred by governmental quotas for biofuel, 

the country's petroleum industry introduced 

a new, ostensibly environmentally-friendly 

petrol with 10 percent ethanol this year. But 


somehow, consumer preference was left out of 

the equation, sparking an unexpected public 

backlash by car-loving Germans. A report by 

the petroleum industry association MWV 

reveals that only one in five German drivers 

fuelled up on E10 last month. Two thirds of 

motorists currently know whether E10 is safe 

for their cars, but nearly half of these drivers 

still refuse to buy the controversial fuel. 

French tOtaL is content doing business with wissol 

Wissol, one of the leading companies in the 

energy sector in Georgia, is successfully 

continuing its business and according to 

Samson Pkhakadze, Chairman of the Wissol 

Board of Directors, in the near future the 

company plans to add 3 new Auto Express 

service centres to its network. Wissol is an 

exclusive importer of French TOTAL lubricants 

available at Auto Express and French 

partners positively evaluate their business 

partnership in Georgia. During the next 18 

months the company is planning to enlarge 

the network and Auto Express branches. “It's 

a big honour for us to manage a business 

with the world's giant oil company, French 

TOTAL. TOTAL and Wissol have great 

business relations. We have quite ambitious 

plans with more branches opening in Tbilisi 

as well as in different parts of Georgia” a 

spokesman said. 

Lotos Group sale a political headache 

Serious interest in buying Poland's Lotos 

Group has come only from Russian companies, 

making the sale of the government-owned 

refiner politically problematic before this 

autumn's parliamentary election. 

Unofficially, the Russian companies who 

submitted bids for Lotos before the treasury 

ministry's deadline at the end of last month 

include TNK BP, GazpromNeft and Rosneft. 

Russian companies have long been interested 

in Lotos, the country's second largest refiner 

– which owns a modern refinery in northern 

Poland as well as a chain of petrol stations 

and some oil production on the Baltic Sea – 

as a way of gaining a foothold in the Polish 

market. 

However, the Polish press reported that 

Biosyntec, a French biotechnology company 

that makes cigarette filters and Trafigura 

Beheer, a Dutch fuel trader, also made bids. 

MOL romania appoints CEO: business woman 

Kinga Ágnes daradics 

MOL Romania has appointed Kinga Ágnes 

Daradics new CEO and Country Retail 

Manager. She will replace Szabolcs Ferencz, 

who has been promoted to lead a new divi- 

sion with MOL, Corporate Affairs. Ferencz 

has led the Romanian subsidiary since the 

beginning of 2010. Kinga Ágnes Daradics 

started working with MOL in 2003 and led 

the gas cards division. She supervised this 

division's activities in nine countries, Romania 

included. She has graduated at the Babes 

Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca and holds 

an MBA from the Sheffield University. MOL 

operates 128 petrol stations in Romania, while 

its network in Europe reaches 1 500 outlets. 

MOL also owns five refineries in Hungary, 

Slovakia, Croatia and Italy.



7

NEwS – MIddLE EaSt, aFrICa & aSIa 

8 

air zimbabwe 

out of fuel 

Zimbabwe's debt-ridden national airline 

has cancelled flights to London and 

South Africa because fuel companies 

have cut off its supplies because of 

unpaid bills. A senior manager at the 

troubled carrier confirmed the flight 

cancellations. “We had no option but to 

cancel London flights because suppliers 

refused to give us fuel for the trip”, the 

Manager said. “London-to-Harare flights 

were also cancelled.” Air Zimbabwe GM 

Innocent Mavhunga would not deny that 

the groundings were a result of failure 

to pay fuel suppliers. “I would not want 

to comment on that”, he said. 

E5 too expensive in 

Viatnam 

While the government is encouraging the 

development of ethanol petrol products, 

in the Environment Law to be applied 

as of 2012, it is still listed as a product 

that bears high environment tax rate. 

This explains why E5 petrol remains 

too expensive to attract users. Research 

conducted by the Hanoi University of 

Technology showed that using E5 users 

can save 5 percent of fuel in comparison 

with petrol. Also that it is less costly to 

use E5 petrol, because it can prolong the 

life of some parts of the engine. 

City pumps run dry 

in Lahore, Pakistan 

Petrol shortage at almost all stations in 

the city continued with its effects being 

felt all over the Punjab metropolis. Many 

of the affected stations were either “shut” 

or limited their services. Petrol station 

workers had no answer to when a solution 

would be found. “We have no petrol”, was 

the only answer they had. Fuel seekers 

were rushing from one petrol station to 

another. The franchises of the oil marketing 

companies TOTAL and Caltex have 

totally run dry; even Shell Pakistan only 

delivered fuel to about 20 percent of its 

filling stations. 

Qatari firms shift focus to Jordan 

With political and social upheavals taking 

place in Syria, its neighbour Jordan, is fast 

emerging as a favourite destination of some top 

Qatari companies that had lined up big-time 

projects in Damascus. State-backed Qatar 

Fuel (Woqod) which is the sole distributor of 

petroleum products in Qatar and also runs a 


large number of petrol and service stations 

across the country, had planned to build and 

operate a network of petrol stations in Syria. 

But the company, according to a local daily, 

has shelved its plans due to political and social 

unrest rocking Syria and has instead decided 

to shift the project to Jordan. 

Shell Ghana launches new diesel fuel 

Shell Ghana introduced its New Shell Diesel 

Extra fuel containing fuel economy formula. 

The new fuel contains unique formulation 

designed to give Ghanaian motorists extra 

kilometres at no extra cost and it is specifically 

developed for all vehicles. Omar Benson, 

Managing Director of Shell Ghana Limited 

said: “We are committed to delivering better 

fuels around the world and have been working 

to develop fuels to address motorists’ needs for 

improved fuel economy. Wide-ranging research 

has shown that many of our customers want 

fuels, which are going to take them further 

without having to pay more.” 

Ptt switches focus to overseas growth 

PTT will focus on regional growth, having 

reached the limit in domestic expansion, 

with the aim of becoming the second-largest 

petrochemicals player behind national brands 

in some countries within five years. Saran 

Rangkasiri, Executive Vice President of 

PTT, said the company would maintain the 

number of PTT petrol stations in Thailand 

at about 1 300. Overseas expansion would 

be one of the company's major strategies 

in the next three to five years. “Neighbouring 

markets, such as Cambodia, Laos and 

Myanmar [Burma], have no oil-refinery 

facilities in the country and they need to 

import finished oil from our country”, he 

said. “Opening our PTT petrol stations in 

their markets will help release our surplus 

oil and add value to our products.” 

Nigeria's Oando plans private placement 

Nigerian energy firm Oando said it planned 

to issue 25 percent of its share capital 

through a private placement to finance 

acquisitions. The energy firm, which has 

1.8 billion shares in issue, is worth 94 billion 

naira as at 6th June. It said proceeds 

from the planned sale would be used for 

corporate restructuring, mergers and 

acquisitions and employee compensation. 

Almost a year ago, Oando said it hoped 

to raise US $ 250 million by floating a 

minority stake in its local fuel retail arm 

on the Lagos bourse, as part of plans to 

turn into a major upstream energy company 

in Africa's biggest oil producing 

country. Oando, which is also listed in 

Johannesburg, said in a notice it would 

seek approval at a shareholders meeting 

at the end of June for the issue. 

UaE tells retailers to stop surcharge on credit cards 

Retailers in the UAE has been asked to stop 

charging additional fees on credit card usage, 

effective from 1st July, 2011, UAE Ministry 

of Economy said in a statement. Sultan Bin 

Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy 

and Chairman of the Supreme Committee 

for Consumer Protection, was heading the 

second meeting of the committee for 2011, 

which passed a resolution prohibiting retailers 

from imposing surcharges on credit card 

usage as commission. The meeting reiterated 

the importance of decisions made by the 

Ministry and the Supreme Committee for 

Consumer Protection to support consumer 

rights and boost economic competitiveness 

and growth in the UAE.

last raises safety concerns in Lebanon 

The dust had barely settled on the ruined 

forecourt before the accusations began to fly. 

A fuel explosion, which killed at least four 

and injured several more at a Beirut gas station, 

formed a timely reminder to lawmakers, 

security services and vehicle owners alike 

of the perilous state of Lebanon's petrol 

pumps: mainly illegal, frequently unsafe 

and criminally under-maintained. Caretaker 

Energy and Water Minister Gibran Bassil, 

bPCL to launch 600 new retail outlets 

State-run oil marketing firm Bharat Petroleum 

Corporation is planning to bid for city-gas 

projects in Kochi (Kerala) and Hyderabad 

(Andhra Pradesh) and plans to launch 

600 new fuel retail outlets this fiscal, said 

S. Vardarajan, Director, corporate finance. 

“We are keen to bid for city gas projects in 

Hyderabad and Kochi as we believe there 

is a huge potential in that market and we 

Ugandan Minister denies ‘Ghost Oil’ company 

Former Energy Minister Hilary Onek denied 

any knowledge of Black Gold Ltd., the shadowy 

company reported as controlling oil imports 

and prices in the country. Eng. Onek, who 

has been transferred to the Internal Affairs 

ministry, said the technocrats at the Energy 

ministry ought to explain how an unknown 

entity was allowed to get the second largest 

allocation of Uganda's oil imports. “I do not 

tOtaL to open 20 gasoline stations in Cebu 

More than a year after setting up its first service 

station in Cebu, TOTAL (Philippines) Corp. 

is planning to open 20 stations in the next two 

to three years, the company said in a press 

statement. TOTAL (Philippines) President and 

Managing Director Ernst Wanten said, “Our 

said greater regulation was needed to avoid 

a repeat disaster. “We called for strengthening 

measures against illegal gas stations 

and for them to increase safety measures. 

This was last discussed in Feb. 2010 but it 

has never been passed due to the level of 

hindrance within the [parliamentary] Energy 

Committee. This law would be the solution 

to the chaos surrounding gas stations in 

Lebanon”, Bassil said. 

will also launch around 600 – 700 new 

retail outlets with a special focus on rural 

markets.” BPCL reported a 33 percent jump 

in net profit in the quarter ended 31st March 

2011 on back of higher refining margins. 

Net profit rose to 935.18 crore rupee in the 

fourth quarter of the current fiscal from 

703.18 crore rupee in the same period the 

previous year. 

know this company so the Permanent Secretary, 

Mr Kabagambe-Kaliisa, should be the 

one to assist in any investigations over the 

matter”, Eng. Onek added. Black Gold Ltd. 

has no known depots or service stations in 

the country but has been importing fuel as a 

middleman, determining how much retailers 

and motorists pay for fuel, which is at an alltime 

high, leading to high commodity prices. 

expansion in Cebu reflects our confidence in 

Cebu's business climate. We also recognize 

the entrepreneurial spirit of our Cebuano 

partners in our service stations.” Despite the 

fierce competition in the industry, TOTAL 

is optimistic of its growing customer base. 



Petronas unit in search 

for more stations 

Petronas Dagangan Bhd plans to invest 

RM 250 million to RM 400 million 

annually to set up between 30 and 50 

petrol stations a year till 2016. The retail 

arm of Petroliam Nasional Bhd now has 

950 petrol stations nationwide. With a 

32 percent share of the market, it ranks 

No. 2 in the retail segment, behind oil and 

gas giant Shell. “We hope to increase our 

market share to 40 percent in five years”, 

Managing Director and Chief Executive 

Officer Amir Hamzah Azizan said at a 

briefing. Amir Hamzah said financing for 

the stations would be internally generated, 

adding that the company needed to find 

“good sites” to build the stations. “With 

950 stations, it's hard to find a location 

that's not near to a competitor.” 

EPPCO shuts filling 

stations in Sharjah 

The number of petrol stations in the 

city are coming down as the leading oil 

marketing companies are undertaking a 

rationalisation of their assets and resources. 

Emirates Petroleum Products Company 

(EPPCO) has permanently closed three of 

its major outlets in Sharjah. The closure 

of three outlets is seen as a reflection 

of the pressure on the company's profit 

margins due to high international oil 

price and the regulated retail price at its 

outlets. An ENOC spokesman said: “As 

part of upgrading its older service stations 

and in line with the environment 

management policy, Emirates National 

Oil Company (ENOC) has decided to 

suspend the operations of three sites in 

Sharjah, all of which are more than 20 

years old. The resources at these sites, 

including manpower, are being deployed 

to newer service stations.” 

9

10 

LatESt NEwS, EVENtS, JObS ONLINE – www.PEtrOLPLaza.COM

7-Eleven announces agreement with Mobil 

7-Eleven Stores Pty. Ltd. announced it will 

enter into a sole supply agreement with Mobil 

Oil Australia Pty. Ltd. from 1st January 2012. 

According to Chief Executive Officer Warren 

Wilmot, the company currently sources fuel 

from both Shell and Mobil. National Fuel 

Manager John Pettit says a one supplier 

agreement will provide synergies and better 

economy of scale. “Although the security of 

Indian Oil to automate all its petrol stations 

State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) 

has embarked upon the process of “automation” 

of its retail stations in the country to 

improve services, a top company official said: 

The company, which has earmarked about 

14 000 crore rupee for capital expenditure this 

fiscal, owns about 19 000 fuel stations across 

the country. “We have taken up a programme 

on automation of all the retail petrol stations. 

Initially we will cover 4 500 petrol stations 

which retail about 200 kl of fuels every month”, 

Indian Oil Chairman and Managing Director 

RS Butola informed. In the first phase, about 

1 600 petrol stations have been identified and 

are in the process of automation, he said, 

Investors interested in angola's gas 

Angola's liquid natural gas (LNG), which is 

due to start being produced in the next few 

months, is raising the interest of international 

investors, who have several projects in the 

design stages, according to the Economist 

Intelligence Unit (EIU). Sonangol, the concession 

holder for Angola's oil and natural 

gas, recently announced that natural gas 

production would begin in November of 

aramco assures no shortage of premium gasoline 

Saudi Aramco has assured users of Premium 

95 grade of gasoline that there is no shortage 

and that the market is adequately supplied. 

In a written statement, Saudi Aramco denied 

reports appearing in the local media 

that Premium 95 gasoline is in short supply, 

especially in Riyadh. “There is no shortage 

of Premium 95 gasoline in the Kingdom”, 

Saudi Aramco asserted in a written release. 

Central asia feels fuel pinch as russia cuts supply 

A shortage of fuel in Russia is hurting millions 

beyond its borders in Central Asia, 

where former satellite states still rely almost 

completely on Moscow's gas supplies – and 

its decisions to tighten the taps from one day 

to the next. Russia's government responded 

this week to domestic fuel shortages by hiking 

a dual supply arrangement can be attractive 

it has been far outweighed on this occasion 

by the commercial benefits realised through 

leveraging our total volume through the one 

supply arrangement. By consolidating our 

fuel supply base we also leverage existing 

logistics arrangements which will enable 

us to more efficiently and effectively deliver 

fuel to each of our stores”, Mr Pettit added. 

adding that after completing the 4 500 petrol 

stations, they would move to petrol pumps 

that retail about 100 kl every month. On their 

future plans, Butola said about 14 000 crore 

rupee has been fixed for this financial year 

as the capital expenditure. 

this year and that exports would start in 

the first quarter of 2012. According to 

the CIA World Factbook, Angola's proven 

reserves stand at around 272 million cubic 

metres and are amongst the top 40 in the 

world. These proven reserves increased more 

than five-fold from 2007 to 2008, with the 

discovery of some 220 billion cubic metres, 

the EIU said. 

“We have not received any complaint from 

distributors or customers regarding shortage 

of Premium 95 gasoline from any region, 

including Riyadh region”, the Saudi Aramco 

statement said. According to Aramco, the 

supply of Premium 95 gasoline is being maintained 

through meticulous planning, studies 

and research, working with distributors to 

meet current demand and in coming months. 

export fees and imposing a temporary export 

ban on fuel, measures that threaten to cause 

severe deficits in impoverished Kyrgyzstan 

and Tajikistan. In those mainly Muslim 

countries, which lie on China's mountainous 

western frontier, the stakes are high as 

the all-important sowing season beckons. 



Can't pay – air India 

grounds 60 flights 

Losses are taking a huge toll over the 

national carrier Air India. After a major 

strike over pay parity with its pilots, Air 

India has been forced to ground 10 percent 

of its fleet to tide over unpaid fuel dues. 

60 Air India flights have been withdrawn 

both from domestic and international 

routes, many connecting extremely busy 

airports like London, Delhi, Mumbai and 

Bangalore. This comes right in the middle 

of the peak travel season. Air India has 

been unable to clear fuel companies' dues 

of 2 700 crore rupee. So, last week the 

oil companies refused it additional credit. 

Now, the airline is forced to fly only on a 

pay-and-fly basis since it does have the 

money to fly its entire fleet every week. 

Ghana moves to 

increase safety 

The Association of Oil Marketing Com - 

panies of Ghana (AOMC) initiated an 

industrial campaign to review the status 

of safety awareness on the management of 

petroleum products to avert accidents. Mr 

Kwaku Agyemang Duah, AOMC Industrial 

Co-ordinator informed that the campaign 

seeks to consolidate laws relating to safety 

in the transportation, storage and utilisation 

of petroleum products. He said the 

AOMC safety campaign was opening a 

new working relationship with regulatory 

authorities including Environmental Protection 

Agency to ensure compliance. Mr 

Agyemang Duah added: “Public education 

on petroleum product safety would be intensified 

and broaden while simple guideline 

leaflets would be circulated and planted 

at vantage point to instruct customers at 

filling stations.” 

thumbs up or a cold 

shoulder 

BP Tanzania filling stations will soon 

rebrand to Puma Energy – complete with 

its corporate colours of olive green and red, 

including a mountain lion insignia – as 

takeover procedures enter an advanced 

stage. The process, to allow Puma Energy 

acquire a 50 percent stake in BP Tanzania 

is now in the hands of the Fair Competition 

Commission (FCC) which is empowered by 

law, to investigate the merger before giving 

it a thumbs up or a cold shoulder. Prior to 

the intended acquisition, Puma Energy – is 

a subsidiary of the Amsterdam-based commodities 

trader Trafigura Beheer. 

11

PrOdUCt NEwS 

12 

Gilbarco expands 

pump tV coverage 

Gilbarco Veeder-Root and its digital media 

partner Outcast Media are taking their 

fuel-pump TV system nationwide, according 

to an announcement. Gilbarco is based in 

Greensboro and makes fuel pumps and retail 

systems for gas stations around the world. 

The system developed with California-based 

Outcast Media is called Applause TV and 

it provides entertainment programming and 

marketing designed to lure gas pumpers 

into the station's convenience store. The 

monitors are integrated into the pumps 

and programming includes content from 

CBS, ABC and Comedy Central among 

others. The program was introduced in 

20 large markets last fall but is now being 

made available nationally because of its 

success, the companies said. 

EasyFuel boosts oil 

and gas with e-payment 

solution 

EasyFuel Limited, a new Nigerian company 

engaged in the provision of e-payment solutions 

in the downstream oil and gas sector, 

has launched a new range of products. 

This new system will eliminate the use 

of cash in buying fuel at filling stations 

across the country in line with global trend 

towards cashless solutions. With these new 

solutions, a customer may purchase fuel 

with simply a bank card or any of EasyFuel's 

proprietary e-payment products, SpeedPass, 

Sprint or e-Go which may be installed in the 

vehicle or issued as contact-less fobs. The 

EasyFuel system also accepts bank-issued 

Automated Teller Machine (ATM) debit and 

credit cards thereby enabling customers 

to pay for their fuel electronically from 

their current and checking bank accounts. 

E&S welcome thai visitors 

E&S Environmental with their sister company 

Flowco Ltd (Thailand) were delighted to 

assist the Thai Government in an exchange 

of ideas leading to amendments on local 

regulations to enhance safety at petrol 

stations in Thailand. E&S Environmental 

organised a seminar venue in Oxford, 

speakers were Mark Calvert MD for Adler 

& Allan, Nobby Clark Chairman of E&S 

Environmental and principal speaker Dr. 

Philip Nathan Head of R&D for A&A. 

E&S spoke on issues relating to biofuels 

and precision tank testing using MassTech 

technology, starting a lively debate followed 

by questions on all aspects of petrol station 

safety measures and storage of biofuels. 

All text on this page is submitted and written by suppliers. Please email product news to editor@erpecnews.com 

wayne to encourage more Flex-Fuel pumps 

Wayne has announced its incentive program 

for distributors in conjunction with the Indiana 

Corn Marketing Council's (ICMC) Flex-Fuel 

Pump Program. The Flex-Fuel Pump Program 

is a cost-sharing program that provides funding 

to fuel retailers to help offset the costs of 

flex-fuel pumps. Flex-fuel dispensers allow 

consumers to choose the particular blend of 

ethanol they wish to use to fuel their vehicles 

The ICMC Flex-Fuel Pump Program offers 

Petro Vend celebrates 50 years in fuel-controls 

OPW Fuel Management Systems, part of OPW 

Fueling Components and one of the world's 

leaders in the design and manufacture of tank 

gauges and automated fuel-control systems, is 

proud to announce its celebrating 50 years in 

the fuel controls industry. Originally founded 

tokheim launches new commercial fleet offering 

Tokheim has announced that it is launching 

a range of new products and speciality services 

for the commercial fleet marketplace. A 

multimillion-euro investment in research and 

development plus a new dedicated team of 

commercial experts will now provide specialist 

products and services worldwide. The new 

suite of products, called DiaLOG, has been 

designed with commercial fleet customers 

in mind; these include transport and bus 

OPw FMS appoints Engineering Manager, 

Product development 

OPW Fuel Management Systems, a business 

unit of OPW Fueling Components, announced 

that it has named Joe Dowling as Engineering 

Manager, Product Development. In this 

new position, Dowling will be responsible for 

co ordinating resources for new product development 

and will report directly to Tony Mills, 

New structure for the sales organisation at Hectronic 

Hectronic is setting the course towards the 

future with the restructuring and the expansion 

of the sales network. The aim of the company 

is to be able to react even more flexibly to 

market challenges. Furthermore, the realigned 

organisation ensures far more customer proximity 

and a higher degree of customer loyalty. 

The regional sales staff can now respond in 


eligible fuel retailers grants that equate to 

50 percent of cost or US $ 20 000, whichever 

is less, for a Flex-Fuel pump, hardware and 

storage tank, or for the cost of converting an 

existing conventional fuel dispenser to an 

ethanol-blender. The ICMC program is open 

to both new and existing fuel retailers in 

Indiana. Wayne is providing additional incentives 

to the ICMC grant funding through the 

Wayne distribution channel. 

in 1961, Petro Vend led the way in fuel-control 

system innovations during its first few decades 

of existence. Then, in 1988 Petro Vend was 

acquired by OPW Fueling Components, but 

was marketed as the leading fuel-control systems 

brand. Following the acquisition, OPW 

also acquired EMCO Electronics in 2002 and 

combined its fuel-control operations under 

the newly created OPW Fuel Management 

Systems business unit. 

companies as well as the emergency services. 

Remco Rengers, Business Development Manager 

Commercial Fleet said, “Although we 

have strong experience at a local level, it is the 

first time that Tokheim has launched a true 

Europe wide range of products and services 

specifically tailored for commercial fleet. Our 

new model also benefits from the synergies 

with our pan-European maintenance, service 

and construction network.” 

Director, Engineering & Product Development. 

Prior to joining OPW, Dowling held the position 

of product line manager at MITEQ / MCL Inc., 

Bolingbrook, IL. In this role, he managed a 

core team of electrical, mechanical and power 

supply engineers engaged in the development 

of multiple indoor high power amplifiers. 

more detail to individual requirements and the 

needs of the clients than was possible with the 

previous structure. “With the new organisation 

we hope to achieve more customer proximity 

and local presence. Furthermore, it will be 

more efficient in managing and focussing the 

sales power”, Stefan Forster, Hectronic GmbH, 

Managing Director said.



13

FEatUrE – tV MarKEtING 

14 LatESt NEwS, EVENtS, JObS ONLINE – www.PEtrOLPLaza.COM 

Stay updated! 

www.petrolplaza.com


Nupigeco hosts Smartflex distributor conference 

80 delegates attended the Conference in 

May where the focus was on new Smartflex 

products and tooling, including presentations 

on the new Smartflex 110/125 mm and 

160/225 coaxial systems, new Smartconduit 

earth cap and cable draw pits and new Rock 

Pipe technology. This was enhanced by hands 

on practical demonstrations on these new 

products as well as the new welding machine 

with the ancillary equipment for downloading, 

pressure and vacuum testing. Other sessions 

were dedicated to the ITS (Interactive Tracking 

System) for traceability and the new website 

featuring the on-line Product Catalogues. The 

Q&A sessions were actively participated in, 

allowing all Nupi distributors to compare and 

share experiences with the other distributors 

from all over the world. 

tokheim awarded dispensing contract by Shell 

Tokheim has announced it has been selected 

as a global supplier of fuel dispensers for 

Shell service stations. The implementation 

of the agreement, which will run until 2016, 

has already started with the first successful 

installations in the Benelux, Germany, Italy 

turpak install 250 station automation systems 

in one month! 

New regulations in Turkey state that all 

stations have to be equipped with pump 

and tank automation systems. However 

even though this was announced 3 years 

ago, Oil companies only recently stepped 

up efforts to abide by the new rugulation 

just ahead of the deadline. Turpak Technology 

who have a contract with 11 major 

Oil companies in Turkey have automated 

Harlequin launches new Slimline fuel station range 

Harlequin Plastics a leading European manufacturer 

of oil, diesel, waste oil and water 

tanks has identified similar demand within 

the diesel fuel market and have designed 

a range of revolutionary Slimline Fuel Stations, 

available in 1 300 litre and 2 500 litre 

capacities. In addition to the advantages 

of incorporating slimmer frame designs, 

and the UK. Tokheim see the supply of the 

Quantium dispensers to Shell as a part of the 

partnership process and are fully committed 

to achieving an excellent level of support for 

them through a current network of Sales and 

Service Divisions in thirty countries. 

a total of 7 500 stations, 1 200 in the last 6 

months and 250 last month alone! Turpak 

also have a new web based monitoring 

system accessed via the internet or mobile 

phone enabling Oil companies to keep tabs 

on Tank levels and sales, system alarms 

and calls for maintenance. As from July 

5 000 station managers will begin using 

the system. 

Harlequin Slimline Fuel Stations will also 

benefit from cutting edge fuel management 

technology and high spec security features. 

Harlequin's product development team made 

the decision to create a space saving fuel 

tank, which could offer the convenience 

of forecourt refuelling capabilities with 

minimal space requirements. 


dresser wayne 

acquires 4tech aS 

PrOdUCt NEwS 

CSG takes on MrH 

Main tenance Programme 

MRH Retail, a leading UK independent 

fuel forecourt operator, has awarded waste 

management specialist Cleansing Service 

Group (CSG) a contract to carry out a 

nationwide environmental services and 

maintenance programme at all of its sites. 

MRH which owns and operates over 300 

service stations and accounts for around 

four percent of motor fuel sales in the UK, 

has granted CSG a three-year contract 

to provide a ‘one stop shop’ portfolio of 

drainage maintenance services. MRH 

Retail's Managing Director, John Lynn, 

said CSG had been chosen because of its 

reputation in the sector and the national 

coverage it could provide. 

Dresser Wayne, has acquired the assets 

of 4tech AS, a fuel tank measurement 

system company headquartered just 

outside Oslo, Norway. The acquisition 

adds 4tech's full suite of automatic 

tank gauging (ATG) products to Dresser 

Wayne's portfolio. Serving 145 countries, 

Dresser Wayne will capitalize on its global 

scale to bring 4tech's deep understanding 

and experience in ATG technologies to a 

growing number of fuel retailers around 

the world. “Our goal is to provide fuel 

retailers with several important advantages. 

One is to help them manage their 

businesses more easily by establishing 

a single point of contact for 4tech ATG 

systems and Dresser Wayne products”, 

said Roar Jakobsen, ATG Finance and 

Operations Director for Dresser Wayne. 

FuelCom and MiniCom ATG control 

system hardware and software products 

will also be integrated into the Dresser 

Wayne global product portfolio. 

15

ErPEC – PHOtO GaLLEry 

16 

With 1 500 meetings 

to get through, 

there's a great deal 

of talking to do! 


erpec 11 – Photo Gallery 

Hotel Rey Juan Carlos, Barcelona, May 10th – 12th 2011 



By Nick Needs 

It was typical first day's business at erpec 11. 

Over 220 delegates from all over the world 

arrived on tuesday afternoon, having lunch 

prior to hearing the opening conference 

session, which this year was sponsored by 

OPw. Oil companies, retailers, distributers, 

PMC's, mainte nance companies and the 

vast majority of international equipment 

suppliers met and mingled at every opportunity. 

Later that evening the welcome 

drinks reception, followed by dinner, set 

the tone for the two days ahead, with a 

rousing speech from Event organiser Nick 

Needs, asking for delegates to open up 

their minds to the many new ideas which 

will confront them throughout the one to 

one business sessions. as usual delegates 

responded in typical erpec fashion, with 

the oil companies and buyers making as 

much of their time available as possible to 

listen to the many supplier presentations. 

17


18 

when the business is over the social 

activities begin and this year, loading 

everyone on coaches for the team 

challenge and taking them down to 

the centre of barcelona on wednesday 

afternoon was a task worthy of a prize 

itself. Eventually everyone reached the 

start point and embarked on a two hour 

quest involving barcelona history, a visit 

to the ramblas and a certain amount of 

drinking for anyone who arrived at the 

rendezvous point on time. dinner at a 

restaurant in the Olympic Marina on 

wednesday evening, was followed by a 

spectacular occasion on the final night 

where delegates were entertained by 

a tribute rock band, performing all the 

famous songs of ‘Queen’. For batuhan 

Kiroglu of turkish equipment manu facturer 

Mepsan, the cake and fireworks was 

his personal birthday surprise! 


erpec 11 – Photo Gallery 

Hotel Rey Juan Carlos, Barcelona, May 10th – 12th 2011 



By Nick Needs 

With the business 

over, the social 

side offers even 

more ways to make 

new contacts! 

19

20 

wright Express to 

expand internationally 

Wright Express has become a major processor 

of fuel purchases and aims to expand internationally. 

Twenty-eight years ago, Wright 

Express operated a fuel purchase system 

at two gas stations in Portland and one in 

South Portland, USA. Today, the company's 

fuel credit cards are accepted at most of the 

nation's 150 000 stations and at gas pumps 

overseas. With nearly US $ 400 million in 

annual revenue, the South Portland-based 

company has become one of the largest players 

in the back-office business of processing 

fuel purchases. President and CEO Michael 

Dubyak attributes his company's growth to a 

loyal work force, business diversification and 

continuing overseas acquisitions. Processing 

fuel purchases is the primary business of 

Wright Express, which employs 872 staff, 

including 562 in South Portland. 

who will pay for debit 

card swipe fees? 

A move by the US government to limit debit 

card fees has set off a clash between banks 

and retailers. Americans may have thought 

the debate over capping debit card fees was 

over after a law was passed last year that 

mandated limits. But there remains a lobbying 

war between two colossi of political 

clout – banks and retailers. 

CItGO collaborates 

on new retail image 

CITGO Petroleum Corp. worked with Stantec 

Architecture and Bedrock Brands to design the 

new retail image for its network of nearly 6 100 

gas stations and 200 Fast Lube facilities. The 

new exterior design and graphic elements mark 

the company's first reimaging in more than 

10 years. The new image features a dynamic 

graphic that leverages the brand equity of the 

signature CITGO Trimark logo. A bold new 

triangular design – named the Triform – uses 

the three colors of the Trimark. The new image 

will be featured on every canopy, dispenser 

skirt and valance. CITGO aims to reimage 

all of its nearly 6 100 locally owned branded 

gasoline stations and nearly 200 CITGO Fast 

Lube locations over the next few years. 

USA News 

Eliminating dispenser-based vapor recovery 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) is proposing a plan to eliminate the 

redundant obligation for many states to require 

Stage II vapor recovery systems at gas stations 

because modern vehicles already have effective 

air pollution control technologies. The 

anticipated savings over the next decade is 

about US $ 670 million, the White House 

Costco Wholesale Corp will soon start selling 

gasoline at its Chicago warehouse store, a move 

that should drive more sales even if it decreases 

the rate of profitability at the club. Costco, the 

largest warehouse chain, keeps its costs low 

with a no-frills approach that includes basic 

displays of pallets of goods. It passes savings 

along to members, who pay annual fees of up 

Valero, the largest independent refiner in the 

US, is designing its new gas stations to offer a 

much wider variety of energy products, including 

natural gas, E85 ethanol, and potentially 

recharging facilities for electric vehicles. The 

economics of doing this now, when the market 

for non-petroleum fuels is still comparatively 

small, look challenging but is considered to 

represent the template for the new retail energy 

If you're a frequent international traveller, 

you're likely familiar with, or may have even 

experienced, difficulty making a purchase 

with your US credit card while traveling 

abroad. That's because over the last several 

years many countries outside of the US have 

switched from magnetic swipe cards to chip 

and pin credit cards. Instead of swiping and 

signing for a purchase, the new technology 

ExxonMobil is launching its latest in mobile 

technology – the ExxonMobil Fuel Finder 

application for Android. The application gives 

real-time maps, driving directions, and station 

information for nearly 10 000 Exxon and 

Mobil retail locations across the continental 

United States. “This new app continues our 

record of delivering what consumers want and 

need”, says Chris Mahoney, U.S. branded 

LatESt NEwS, LatESt EVENtS, USa NEwS JObS – ONLINE www.PEtrOLPLaza.COM 

– www.PEtrOLPLaza.COM 

said: According to a report by the National 

Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), 

the Clean Air Act empowers the EPA to repeal 

these requirements once onboard vapor 

recovery systems installed on vehicles reach 

“widespread use”. The definition of widespread 

use, however, has been a source of contention 

for several years. 

Costco enter high-priced Chicago gas market 

the future energy station arrives 

to US $ 100 to shop in its massive stores. The 

formula also works in the gas business, where 

Costco monitors prices at nearby stations and 

matches or undercuts them in order to bring 

drivers over to its pumps. With high gas prices 

on the minds of shoppers, Costco has seen yearover-year 

gains in the number of gallons it sells, 

said Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti. 

facilities that will be built in the next several 

decades. Valero's new station design embodies 

the result of trends that companies such 

as Texaco Inc., identified in the late 1990s 

in a scenario called Multiple Choice Energy, 

a combination of new vehicle technologies 

such as hybrids, EVs and fuel cells, as well 

as a vision of the retail network that would 

meet their needs. 

Chip-and-PIN technology introduced in the US 

reads a chip in the card and the customer 

then enters a PIN to verify and complete 

the transaction. If this has been a source of 

frustration, then you may be in luck. Two US 

banks have announced they're getting into the 

chip and pin credit card game. Most of Europe 

has adopted chip-and-pin technology, as have 

many countries in Asia and South America, 

also Canada is converting over. 

ExxonMobil station locator application 

wholesale manager for ExxonMobil Fuels 

Marketing. “Since the iPhone and iPad version 

of this app was introduced in November 

2010, it's had over 26 000 downloads. Our 

customers have been very interested in when 

the same technology would be available for 

their Androids, and now they can more easily 

and more efficiently find an Exxon or Mobil 

station no matter where they are.”


21

22 

Germany to get 

hydrogen fuel station 

network 

The development of a German network of 

hydrogen filling stations is gaining pace. The 

automotive manufacturer Daimler AG and 

the Linde technology group announced in 

Stuttgart that they intended to open 20 new 

filling stations in Germany over the next 

three years. This will more than triple the 

number of public hydrogen filling stations 

in the country. The new stations are to be 

set up in the regions of Stuttgart, Berlin and 

Hamburg, which are already supplied with 

hydrogen along the most popular North-South 

and East-West axis. For the first time, this 

would enable every location in Germany 

to be reached by a fuel-cell vehicle by the 

year 2015. 

EV quick-chargers 

in first phase of 

‘Green Highway’ 

As part of the ‘Green Highway’ project where 

California, Oregon and Washington are 

partnering to turn Interstate 5 into the first 

alternative-fuel-friendly freeway in the U.S., 

AeroVironment is installing Level 3 EV quick 

chargers along the route in Southern Oregon. 

For this first phase of the project, from the 

California state line to the Willamette Valley, 

150 miles of the highway will have convenient 

access to EV chargers that can fully charge 

a battery in 30 minutes. Eight interchanges 

will be picked based on common destinations, 

vehicle range and driving distances. 

The chargers will be installed by the end of 

the fall. The project is being funded by the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

tOtaL hold solar exhibit 

at motorway sites 

To raise customer awareness of solar energy, 

the 126 TOTAL motorway stations in France 

have launched the 1.2.3. Soleil operation running 

to the 17 July. The exhibition is visible 

in all TOTAL motorway stations explaining 

solar power to young people and the stations’ 

customers. 

ALTERNATIVEFUeL News 

Ireland's first electric taxis take to the road 

One of Europe's first electric taxi services has 

been launched in Dublin, offering people a 

taste of how environmentally friendly electric 

Charging EVs as quick as pumping gas 

There might be a quicker and easier way to 

charge your EV, thanks to a team of researchers 

at MIT who created a liquid-flow battery for 

EVs that can be recharged in the same amount 

of time it takes to fill up a gas tank. The battery 

involves a black and gooey electrolyte which 

holds suspended positive and negative electrodes 

Gasoline from pine and corn waste 

Three global companies from the worlds of 

agriculture, petroleum and car manufacturing 

are lead investors in a company called Virent, 

which has developed a biogasoline that is practically 

the molecular equivalent of conventional 

gasoline. The milestone is significant because 

the feedstock consists of woody, non-food waste 

from pine and corn (aka corn stover), a vast 

improvement over corn, soybeans and other 

food crops. The partnership is also significant 

LatESt NEwS, aLtErNatIVE EVENtS, FUEL JObS NEwS ONLINE – www.PEtrOLPLaza.COM 

– www.PEtrOLPLaza.COM 

NEwS 

Shell and Cosan: a lower-carbon future with biofuels 

Shell and Cosan launched a multi-billion dollar 

joint venture that will become a leading producer 

of the low-carbon biofuel, ethanol made from 

sugar cane. Named Raízen, this major retail 

and commercial fuels company will operate 

transport can enhance city living. ESB ecars 

and Dublin-based NRC Taxis teamed up to 

offer the first electric taxi (e-taxi) service in 

Ireland. The new initiative was unveiled in 

Dublin City by ESB Chief Executive Padraig 

McManus and NRC Director Liam Brady today. 

Two e-taxis will now operate on Dublin's streets, 

including one wheelchair-accessible vehicle. 

This is one of the first “working” electric taxi 

schemes in Europe and is part of a wider EU 

research programme that includes gathering 

data on the performance of electric transport 

in an urban setting. 

that provide the EV with juice. When all the 

energy has been zapped out of the electrolyte, 

you can simply remove a container holding the 

goo from the battery and recharge it. Then you 

can put it back in the battery and you're ready to 

go. The team at MIT envisions this happening 

as quickly and easily as it takes to pump gas. 

because the three companies are Honda, Shell 

and Cargill and Virent is one of 17 members of 

the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium, 

which funded the biogasoline project through 

a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. 

With global corporate support building for 

alternative fuels, it seems that the Obama 

administration is cultivating some powerful 

new allies to counteract pressure from the 

fossil fuel industry. 

in Brazil, one of the world's fastest-growing 

markets. Raízen will produce and sell over 2 

billion litres a year of the lowest-carbon biofuel 

commercially available – ethanol made from 

Brazilian sugar cane. Raízen will distribute 

biofuels and over 20 billion litres of other industrial 

and transport fuels annually through 

a combined network of nearly 4 500 Shellbranded 

service stations. In Brazil it becomes 

the third largest fuels company. Plans would 

extend the company's reach in future years 

to export more ethanol to other key markets.

www.alucobond.com 

www.bennettpump.com 

www.bennett-sauser.ch 

www.beverinnovations.com 

www.brugg.de 

www.dresserwayne.com 

www.plxpipe.com 

www.eandsgroup.co.uk 

www.eurotank.eu.com 

www.fafnir.com 

www.franklinfueling.com 

www.gilbarco.eu 

www.hectronic.com 

www.iisltd.com 

www.istobal.com 

www.kpsystem.com 

www.kubald.com 

www.leightonobrien.com 

www.mepsan.com.tr 

www.emergy.net 

www.nupigeco.com 

www.ono-oil.com 


wEbSItES aNd LOGOS – SUPPOrtING ErPECNEwS 

www.opw-fce.com 

www.christ-ag.com 

www.petrotec.eu 

www.planova.com 

www.psdcodax.com 

www.ruudlighting.net & www.ruudled.net 

www.scheidt-bachmann.com 

www.secu-tech.at 

www.sloanled.com 

www.tanknology.com 

www.tokheim.com 

www.washtec.de 

If you have not yet sent us your logo and website address, please do so for the next issue by mailing editor@erpecnews.com 

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