23.08.2013 Views

EUROPEAN EDITION - ErpecNews

EUROPEAN EDITION - ErpecNews

EUROPEAN EDITION - ErpecNews

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

an international retail petroleum news digest<br />

www.erpecnews.com<br />

LukoIL to expand network in Turkey<br />

OAO LukOiL of Russia is in exclusive talks<br />

with Full, a Turkish discount fuel retailer, to<br />

operate its fuel stations for 10 years, according<br />

to Full CEO Timucin Tali. Tali has said<br />

that currently Full’s stations are closed for<br />

LukOiL inspections. Global energy compa-<br />

nies are seeking expansion in Turkey where<br />

economic growth is forecast at 3.5 percent<br />

this year and about twice the pace of the most<br />

advanced economies to 2017. LukOiL operates<br />

in the country through its Eurasia Petrol<br />

unit, which has more than 600 fuel stations<br />

across the country. The nation is increasingly<br />

becoming an “energy hub” connecting Europe<br />

with Asia, according to the company’s website.<br />

LukOiL is discussing financial details of the<br />

deal with Full, which is owned by AR Sirketler<br />

Grubu’s Arista Holding. under the agreement,<br />

LukOiL Eurasia Petrol would rebrand Full’s<br />

54 stations under its own name.<br />

PkN oRLEN and Statoil sign agreement<br />

Polski koncern Naftowy ORLEN S.A. have<br />

announced that the Management Board<br />

of AB ORLEN Lietuva signed a one-year<br />

agreement with Statoil Fuel & Retail Lietuva,<br />

uAB. The agreement was signed for the sale<br />

of gasoline and diesel by ORLEN Lietuva to<br />

Statoil Fuel & Retail Lietuva for the period<br />

between 1st January 2013 and 31st December<br />

2013. The estimated net value of the agreement<br />

amounts to uS $ 330 million. Agreements<br />

signed between PkN ORLEN and PkN<br />

ORLEN subsidiaries and companies from the<br />

Statoil Fuel & Retail group from February 2012<br />

to January 2013 amounted to approximately<br />

uS $ 792 million. PkN ORLEN owns 100<br />

percent shares of ORLEN Lietuva.<br />

Trafigura supplying fuel to Enemalta<br />

The fuel contract was awarded to Trafigura in<br />

December 2012 for the provision of between<br />

160 000 metric tonnes to 176 000 metric<br />

tonnes divided into eight partial shipments<br />

with a contract period from the fourth week<br />

of January to the fourth week of June 2013.<br />

Trafigura provided not only the cheapest offer<br />

but fulfilled the criteria requested by the<br />

invitation to tender relating to quality and<br />

quantity of the product, delivery periods, and<br />

other requirements such as insurance cover,<br />

jurisdiction of contract, and payment terms.<br />

Issue No 39 | January/February 2013<br />

<strong>EUROPEAN</strong> <strong>EDITION</strong><br />

Repsol and Fiat join<br />

forces in LPG venture<br />

Fiat and Repsol have agreed to promote<br />

the sale of vehicles fueled with autogas<br />

(LPG automotive) and encourage the use<br />

of this alternative fuel in Spain. Repsol<br />

leads Autogas distribution in the domestic<br />

market while the italian brand offers the<br />

widest range of vehicles powered by LPG,<br />

a segment in which ranks first in sales<br />

in Europe. The agreement was signed by<br />

the CEO of Fiat Group in Spain,Luca<br />

Napolitano and the CEO of Repsol LPG,<br />

José Manuel Gallego.<br />

Shell takes over Neste<br />

network in Poland<br />

Anglo-Dutch fuel giant Shell signed an<br />

agreement with Neste Oil for the purchase<br />

of Neste’s fuel stations in Poland for EuR<br />

80 million, Neste Oil has said at its website.<br />

The transaction is to be finalized in the first<br />

half of 2013. Neste has 105 filling stations<br />

in Poland & Neste Polska generated 250<br />

million euros sales in 2011. Fuel groups<br />

PkN Orlen and Lotos were also interested<br />

in purchasing Neste’s Polish fuel chain.<br />

erpecnews is published by McLean Communications Ltd. in conjunction with PetrolPlaza – www.erpecnews.com


2<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM


CREDITS<br />

European Office<br />

com-a-tec GmbH<br />

Am krebsgraben 15<br />

78048 Villingen-Schwenningen<br />

Germany<br />

Tel + 49 (0) 7721 9830-0<br />

Fax + 49 (0) 7721 9830-70<br />

www.erpecnews.com<br />

UK Office<br />

McLean Communications Ltd.<br />

South Lodge Buildings<br />

Westwood Lane<br />

Normandy<br />

Guildford, Gu3 2JE<br />

Tel + 44 (0) 1483 810670<br />

Publisher<br />

Nick Needs<br />

McLean Communications Ltd.<br />

nick@erpecnews.com<br />

Tel + 44 (0) 7786 607075<br />

News Editor<br />

Stephen Bozdan<br />

stephen@erpec.com<br />

Tel +36 (0) 2125 23268<br />

art Director<br />

Ramona Raithel<br />

ramona.r@com-a-tec.de<br />

Tel + 49 (0) 7721 9830-0<br />

Marketing Manager<br />

Sandra Stroppel<br />

sandra.s@com-a-tec.de<br />

Tel + 49 (0) 7721 9830-0<br />

Sales Director<br />

Stephen Bozdan<br />

stephen@erpecnews.com<br />

Tel + 44 (0) 1483 810670<br />

Advertising will be accepted in each issue<br />

on a limited basis. All requests for advertising should<br />

be sent to advertising@erpecnews.com<br />

Printed by<br />

Todt Druck + Medien GmbH + Co.kG<br />

www.todt-druck.de<br />

is published monthly by McLean<br />

Communications Ltd. in conjunction with<br />

PetrolPlaza.com and distributed to retail petroleum<br />

operations in Europe and the Middle East. McLean<br />

Communications Ltd. is the organiser of ,<br />

the leading business event, held every two years,<br />

for Europe’s retail petroleum market.<br />

www.erpecnews.com<br />

Copyright<br />

The views expressed in print are those of the<br />

author and do not necessarily represent those of<br />

the publisher, McLean Communications Ltd. All<br />

rights reserved. No part of this publication may<br />

be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or<br />

transmitted in any form or by means electronic,<br />

mechanical, photocopying, recorded or otherwise<br />

without the prior permission of the copyright holder.<br />

McLean<br />

Communications Ltd.<br />

bP says oil will remain king to 2030<br />

British oil giant BP expects unconventional<br />

sources of crude and other fuels to supply a<br />

larger amount of the world’s energy needs<br />

over the next 20 years and oil will remain<br />

the primary fuel for transportation. As far as<br />

overall energy consumption, BP believes oil<br />

will decline over the next two decades, while<br />

gas and coal will rise. The company made the<br />

predictions as it released its updated 2030<br />

energy outlook. it is the third year in which<br />

the company has released the expectations<br />

publicly. “This outlook is a projection, not a<br />

proposition”, Chief Executive Bob Dudley<br />

declared during a presentation from London<br />

that was carried over the internet. BP, Royal<br />

Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil are among the<br />

companies that each year publish outlooks<br />

that forecast the future of the energy sector.<br />

The goal: To figure out what the world will<br />

look like in the future so they can make the<br />

most profitable exploration and production<br />

decisions today. By releasing their conclusions<br />

publicly, these companies also spark<br />

an annual conversation about the world’s<br />

energy needs.<br />

BP’s updated projections include: Energy<br />

demand is expected to be 36 percent higher<br />

in 2030 than 2011, with almost all the<br />

growth coming from emerging economies.<br />

Growing production from unconventional<br />

sources of oil – tight oil, oil sands and<br />

biofuels – is expected to provide all of the<br />

net growth in global oil supply to 2020<br />

and over 70 percent of growth to 2030. By<br />

2030, increasing production and moderat-<br />

latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

NEwS – EuRoPE<br />

ing demand will result in the u.S. being<br />

99 percent self-sufficient in net energy; in<br />

2005 it was only 70 percent. The u.S. will<br />

remain a small net importer of oil, although<br />

net imports will decline by about 70 percent.<br />

Major emerging economies such as China<br />

and india will become increasingly reliant<br />

on energy imports. These shifts will have<br />

major impacts on trade balances. Russia will<br />

remain the world’s largest energy exporter,<br />

with increases in exports of all fossil fuels.<br />

By 2030, Saudi Arabia will be the world’s<br />

largest oil exporter, although the trajectory<br />

over time will be impacted by the likelihood<br />

of OPEC production cuts. “Fears of oil<br />

running out, to which we never subscribed,<br />

appear increasingly groundless”, Dudley<br />

said. At London-based BP, a 10-member<br />

team works year round on the company’s<br />

energy projections, which include assumptions<br />

on changes in policy, technology and<br />

the economy. internal and external experts<br />

are consulted, public and private data and<br />

reports are reviewed and existing regulations<br />

and how they may change in the future are<br />

considered.<br />

More focus on IT Managers at erpec 13<br />

With technology on a typical fuel station<br />

becoming ever more sophisticated and<br />

with dispenser manufacturers focusing as<br />

much time on selling software systems as<br />

they are selling pumps, the iT Manager in<br />

oil company retail operations, is becoming<br />

one of the most important members of the<br />

engineering team.<br />

At a recent industry trade fair, VP Global<br />

Strategic Accounts and Global Marketing<br />

at Wayne, Brad Schumacher, pointed out<br />

that iT executives now play a major role in<br />

the development of effective retail software<br />

solutions on the forecourt. He added that<br />

at major industry gatherings it is becoming<br />

more and more important for iT personnel<br />

to be in attendance alongside technical and<br />

procurement executives, a point not lost by<br />

Nick Needs, organiser of erpec, who has<br />

extended invitations for next year’s event to<br />

include iT departments from all the major<br />

oil companies.<br />

Commenting on this he said: “We have<br />

had some good response to this initiative<br />

from a number of oil companies attending<br />

and have been delighted to receive our first<br />

registrations from iT related people, in this<br />

instance coming from the MOL Group in<br />

Hungary, nominating its Head of Global<br />

industrial iT Solutions Development and<br />

its Thematic Leader of Global Retail / Card<br />

Application Development, as part of its five<br />

man delegation team”.<br />

Places are still available at erpec 13 for oil<br />

companies, major retailers and international<br />

suppliers of retail petroleum equipment. Taking<br />

place in Nice, France from 16 – 18 April 2013.<br />

More details can be found at www.erpec.com<br />

3


NEwS – EuRoPE<br />

4<br />

French fuel consumption<br />

decreases in 2012<br />

According to the latest figures from the<br />

Professional Committee of oil (PDCC),<br />

deliveries of fuel on the French market<br />

totalled 3.91 million cubic meters in<br />

December 2012 (-2 percent compared to<br />

December 2011). This decrease resulted<br />

from a decrease of 11.4 percent deliveries<br />

superfuels SP and a decrease of 5 percent<br />

of deliveries. The general decline seems<br />

to result from both improved energy<br />

performance of vehicles and consumer<br />

rejection of high price fuel.<br />

Fuel giant PkN orlen<br />

pushes up prices<br />

Polish oil refiner and petrol retailer PkN<br />

Orlen has raised its wholesale prices of<br />

unleaded petrol and diesel. According to<br />

a statement released by the company in<br />

Plock, Central Poland, wholesale prices for<br />

its Superplus 98 and diesel fuel will rise.<br />

Fuel stations will adjust the ultimate retail<br />

price, with costs unlikely to go beyond<br />

an increase of 0.002 euro per litre. The<br />

current rise marks the eighth hike in fuel<br />

prices in a year. PkN Orlen, which also<br />

operates in the Czech Republic, Germany<br />

and across the Baltic states, is among the<br />

largest oil companies in Europe.<br />

Shaws Petroleum<br />

agrees sale<br />

Shaws Petroleum uk is to be swallowed<br />

up by Midlands Co-operative Society<br />

after the company’s Managing Director,<br />

Paul Sykes, agreed to sell his company<br />

for an undisclosed amount. Sykes, who<br />

has led the company for 35 years, saw<br />

his company record a £ 30.5 million<br />

profit last year, £ 22.2 million of which<br />

came from fuel sales. The company has<br />

five fuel service stations actively trading<br />

at present.<br />

Topaz invests to<br />

secure jobs<br />

Topaz Energy, ireland’s largest fuel and<br />

convenience retailer, has invested €1.35 million<br />

euro in five fuel service stations to<br />

secure 82 jobs, preventing the closure of<br />

the sites, bringing the company’s workforce<br />

up to over 1 600 people. Topaz has<br />

continued to grow its business despite<br />

challenging local market conditions. The<br />

company’s turnover has reached 3 billion<br />

euro, with 1.8 million euro transactions<br />

taking place every month across a network<br />

of 328 fuel service stations.<br />

DCC wins approval for acquisition<br />

DCC PLC has announced that the uk Office<br />

of Fair Trading (OFT) has formally cleared the<br />

company’s acquisition of BP’s LPG business<br />

in Britain. The acquisition was completed in<br />

late September 2012. DCC had undertaken<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

to hold the BP LPG business separately from<br />

its Flogas brand pending approval. Following<br />

the OFT’s decision to approve the transaction,<br />

DCC said, it is now free to integrate BP’s LPG<br />

distribution business with Flogas.<br />

Phillips 66 announces new dealer services<br />

in the uk Phillips 66 has introduced two new<br />

initiatives aimed at increasing the profitability<br />

of dealers under their Jet brand. The firm is<br />

partnering with leading equipment suppliers<br />

Tokheim and istobal to add the new services.<br />

Tokheim is fulfilling a dispenser maintenance<br />

contract, responding to research carried out<br />

by Phillips 66 into the pump maintenance<br />

requirements of a cross-section of its Jet<br />

dealers. istobal, meanwhile, if offering a free<br />

health check for the car washes, jet washes,<br />

air machines and vacuums at Jet sites. “We<br />

pride ourselves on continually meeting and<br />

listening to our dealers. At the heart of any<br />

dealers’ business are the fuel pumps. Without<br />

them operating to their full ability, customers<br />

are simply unable to buy fuel and are unlikely<br />

to return, due to their perception that ‘Jet<br />

pumps don’t work”, explained Sharon Morrow,<br />

Brand and Communications Co-ordinator at<br />

Jet. “it’s vital for us to learn and understand<br />

dealers’ requirements, to enable them to be<br />

able to excel in their operations. We believe<br />

our new pump maintenance contract will<br />

improve not only service to our dealers, but<br />

also the service they offer to their customers.”<br />

First motorway stations in Northern Ireland<br />

Planning permission has been granted to<br />

build Northern ireland’s first motorway<br />

fuel stations. For the first time, Northern<br />

ireland commuters will not have to exit the<br />

motorway in search of fuel. The four proposed<br />

stations will include direct slip roads from<br />

the motorways in both directions, giving<br />

what the operators hope will be quick and<br />

easy access for drivers. Their development<br />

will provide a significant boost to the local<br />

economy, with a potential investment of some<br />

£ 20 million. The construction will be done<br />

in phases, allowing the fuel stations to open<br />

before the other facilities. The development<br />

has already been recommended for approval<br />

by DOE Planning.<br />

Supermarket fuel ‘puts 1 000 independents at risk’<br />

in the uk up to 1 000 independent forecourts<br />

could be “wiped out” by 2017 as they lose customers<br />

to new supermarket fuel stations, the<br />

Petrol Retailers’ Association (PRA) has warned.<br />

An average of 40 supermarket forecourts a year<br />

have been granted planning permission since<br />

2009, a study by Christie & Co on behalf of<br />

the trade body has found. Steve Rodell, head<br />

of retail at Christie & Co, said: “if applications<br />

continue at the same rate and there is<br />

no reason to believe that will not be the case,<br />

there will be another 160 supermarket sites<br />

SoCaR rebrands Esso stations<br />

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR)<br />

has began the re-branding and re-development<br />

of its network of Esso fuel stations acquired<br />

by the end of 2016.” Supermarkets seeking<br />

to establish more “standalone” forecourt sites<br />

could result in the opening of a further 25 to<br />

40 new fuel stations operated by the retail<br />

giants each year, the PRA said. it claimed<br />

that “every new supermarket site is sucking<br />

the equivalent volume of five independents<br />

out of the market”. Brian Madderson, PRA<br />

Chairman, added: “if left unchecked the<br />

expected growth in supermarket forecourts<br />

would kill off 1 000 independents over the<br />

next four years.”<br />

from ExxonMobil Esso Switzerland GmbH.<br />

SOCAR Energy Switzerland’s General Director<br />

Edgar Bachmann has stated that before the<br />

2nd half of next year the 160 Esso petrol stations<br />

will operate under brand SOCAR flame.<br />

SOCAR believe their ‘flame’ logo is a highly<br />

visible symbol of the best service in the retail<br />

and energy business. They want to provide<br />

the widest distribution of this new premium<br />

brand in Switzerland, requiring high-quality,<br />

exceptional customer service, high standards<br />

of safety and good government.


latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

5


NEwS – EuRoPE<br />

6<br />

PkN takes writedown<br />

on unipetrol<br />

PkN Orlen has written down the value<br />

of its Czech refining arm unipetrol, a<br />

move that pushed the company into a<br />

quarterly loss of uS $ 227 million. PkN<br />

has a 63 percent share in unipetrol and<br />

recorded a uS $ 236 million impairment on<br />

the holding. unipetrol’s Head of investor<br />

Relations, Michal Stupavsky, said uni -<br />

petrol may be selling assets in the near<br />

future, including the Paramo unit, which<br />

ended processing of crude last year. “The<br />

sale is very likely in the foreseeable future”,<br />

he said, declining to comment on a possible<br />

buyer for the business.<br />

ToTaL refinery to<br />

restructure<br />

TOTAL’s Lindsey Oil Refinery in the uk is<br />

set to become a separate company as part<br />

of a restructuring process to create 24 new<br />

jobs at the site. TOTAL LOR will become<br />

a separate company from Spring 2013,<br />

assuming day-to-day control of TOTAL’s<br />

refining business, storage terminals and<br />

logistics infrastructure in Britain. TOTAL<br />

has invested more than £ 600 million in<br />

the 220 000 barrel per day plant in recent<br />

years. The site returned to profit in autumn<br />

of 2012. The independent company will<br />

incorporate Lindsey’s 1 000 strong team of<br />

employees and contractors, along with the<br />

employees and management operations at<br />

terminals across the uk.<br />

Family firm has big growth plan<br />

Maxol is stepping up expansion in post-boom<br />

ireland – picking potential sites carefully and<br />

providing much-needed jobs to these localities.<br />

it’s fair to say that Maxol does not fit<br />

the stereotypical image of ‘big oil’. Some 90<br />

years after it was founded by the McMullan<br />

family, the business is still a far cry from the<br />

‘Dallas’ image and its Chief Executive, Tom<br />

Noonan, is about as far away from JR Ewing<br />

as you can get. Maxol has been something of<br />

an anomaly in irish industry in recent years.<br />

While it seemed for a while that every business<br />

was expanding rapidly and was reporting<br />

turbocharged profits, Maxol was pottering<br />

along at a steady pace, but was hardly setting<br />

the world on fire. Cut to today and many of<br />

those turbocharged profits have disappeared<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

as quickly as they appeared, but Maxol is still<br />

carrying on as it always has. under Noonan,<br />

there are now about 225 Maxol service stations<br />

around the island. With turnover of close<br />

to 650 million euros a year, the business is<br />

growing steadily but is now planning a huge<br />

expansion.<br />

BP and Rosneft plan TNK integration<br />

The news followed talks between BP Chief<br />

Bob Dudley and Rosneft president igor Sechin<br />

in Moscow who met for only the second time<br />

since late October, when the pair agreed a<br />

$ 27 billion (£ 17 billion) deal that would see<br />

BP sell its half of the venture. BP has taken<br />

a near-20pc stake in Rosneft as part of the<br />

deal and has told its shareholders it believes it<br />

can help to drive synergies and boost returns.<br />

Rosneft has also agreed to buy the other half<br />

of TNk-BP from BP’s oligarch partners, the<br />

Low quality fuel in Bulgaria shrinks<br />

The share of low quality fuel on the Bulgarian<br />

market has decreased five-fold over the past<br />

four years, according to Petar kostadinov<br />

from the State Agency for Metrology and<br />

Technical Surveillance (SAMTS). kostadinov<br />

explained that the share of poor quality fuel<br />

on the Bulgarian market amounted to slightly<br />

over 3 percent in 2012. The SAMTS Chief<br />

Secretary, as cited by Darik radio, made clear<br />

that offenders used a range of components to<br />

dilute fuel, thereby lowering its quality. kostadinov<br />

specified that the share of low quality<br />

Alfa-Access-Renova consortium, with both<br />

deals expected to complete in the first half<br />

of this year. Mr Sechin will chair the steering<br />

committee co-ordinating the integration of<br />

TNk-BP’s assets. in a statement, BP and Rosneft<br />

said they had “confirmed their commitment<br />

to efficient integration of the companies and<br />

agreed that the process is a unique opportunity<br />

to bring many of the world’s best business<br />

and technical practices into the combined<br />

company in a short time frame”.<br />

fuel had only registered slight decreases by<br />

2009. He noted that it had taken other Eu<br />

member states 4–5 years to curb the share of<br />

substandard fuel after the imposition of strict<br />

control, while the process in Bulgaria had<br />

necessitated 6–7 years. The expert argued<br />

that the share of 3.4 percent of poor quality<br />

fuel in 2013 placed Bulgaria at a good level<br />

around the Eu average. He underscored that<br />

Bulgaria had reached a good score in curbing<br />

sales of poor quality fuel on the tenth year<br />

after imposing stringent control.


ENI expanding into vietnam<br />

italian energy company ENi announced it<br />

signed a memorandum of understanding<br />

to explore potential business opportunities<br />

with state owned PetroVietnam. ENi<br />

Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni met<br />

with PetroVietnam President Do Van Hau<br />

in Rome for the signing of the MOu. The<br />

MOu gives PetroVietnam the chance to<br />

MFG adds 10 stations to network<br />

Top 50 indies forecourt operator, Motor<br />

Fuel Group (MFG) has grown its network<br />

to 58 stations with the acquisition of 10<br />

stations from Shell. Jeremy Clarke, MFG’s<br />

Managing Director said: “This acquisition<br />

adds some high volume stations to our<br />

network. They all fit into our model by<br />

offering customers a great forecourt and<br />

shop offer.” He continued: “All of these<br />

expand its international footprint while<br />

allowing ENi to enter into developments<br />

in Vietnam. The CiA World Fact Book<br />

estimates that Vietnam in 2011 produced<br />

318 000 barrels of oil and 300 billion cubic<br />

feet of gas per day. Scaroni added that the<br />

Vietnam company would gain from training<br />

opportunities from his company.<br />

new stations are now BP branded and<br />

after a shop refit they will be offering the<br />

extensive and competitive range of Costcutter<br />

products. “it’s good to end our first<br />

year of trading with some positive news.<br />

We will continue to look at opportunities<br />

for growth during 2013 while maintaining<br />

our on-going investment on our forecourts<br />

and in our shops.”<br />

NIS opens in Balkans under GAZPROM Neft<br />

NiS (Naftna industrija Srbije), a subsidiary<br />

of Gazprom Neft, opened its first fuel<br />

station under the GAZPROM brand in<br />

Belgrade. A large-scale project to launch a<br />

new premium retail chain of GAZPROM<br />

fuel stations will in the future be extended<br />

to other countries in the Balkans. The<br />

retail development under the new brand is<br />

planned in Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and<br />

Bosnia and Herzegovina with the stations in<br />

Bulgaria and Romania opening shortly. By<br />

the end of 2013, the GAZPROM network<br />

Turkey – an expensive fuel hotspot<br />

Turkey is one of the world’s most expensive<br />

fuel hotspots despite the reductions in tax,<br />

Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has<br />

said. The high prices are determined by<br />

free market conditions as direct or indirect<br />

state intervention has been capped off. He<br />

said the state’s regulations like formation<br />

of refinery prices with an index, or setting<br />

will consist of approximately 100 fuel stations.<br />

NiS will manage GAZPROM petrol<br />

stations in the Balkans.<br />

an upper limit for the shares of distributors<br />

and carriers, have been eliminated in<br />

addition to decreases in taxes. “Although<br />

fuel prices have increased for years, the tax<br />

burden hasn’t, on the contrary it decreased<br />

for the last 10 years.” Most recently, the<br />

Finance Ministry raised taxes on fuel oil,<br />

diesel fuel and LPG.<br />

latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

NEwS – EuRoPE<br />

Repsol complaint upheld<br />

by world bank<br />

The World Bank’s arbitration body has<br />

begun investigations after accepting a complaint<br />

from Repsol regarding Argentina’s<br />

expropriation of its controlling stake in<br />

energy company YPF. Repsol’s complaint<br />

– which follows the seizure of the company<br />

in May – could be one of the largest claims<br />

against the country. Repsol has valued its<br />

51 percent stake in YPF at $ 10 billion.<br />

However, Argentine officials have indicated<br />

that they are not prepared to pay this, while<br />

the country’s Planning Ministry has formed<br />

a committee to determine the value for<br />

compensation purposes. Repsol and the<br />

Argentine Government must each name an<br />

arbitrator to sit on a three-member panel<br />

that will oversee the case. The third member<br />

of the panel must be agreed by both sides.<br />

Spain and Ireland<br />

sign agreement<br />

Spain and ireland have both signed an<br />

agreement to maintain oil reserves for<br />

‘petroleum emergencies’. Both countries<br />

have decided to join a European standard<br />

which states that countries must maintain<br />

minimum reserves of crude. it also<br />

states how to handle such reserves and<br />

that periodic reports must be submitted<br />

to the European Commission on those<br />

levels. Both countries are also obliged to<br />

punish any company that do not comply<br />

with their obligations provided for in the<br />

legal framework. This agreement facilitates<br />

the free movement and treatment of oil<br />

between the two countries.<br />

HkS & bP agree new<br />

supply deal<br />

uk independent retailer HkS has agreed<br />

to extend its long partnership with BP,<br />

signing a new supply deal with the oil<br />

major. The new deal will run for five years.<br />

7


NEwS – MIDDLE EaST, aFRICa & aSIa<br />

8<br />

xxx<br />

xx<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM


Zambia talking to Gunvor and Trafigura<br />

Zambia has opened talks with foreign firms<br />

Gunvor and Trafigura regarding a two-year<br />

supply of oil and refined fuel starting this<br />

year, a senior government official has said.<br />

Energy secretary George Zulu said the govern<br />

ment was talking to Geneva-based Gunvor<br />

over the supply of 1.4-million tons of oil and<br />

Trafigura on the supply of diesel and petrol.<br />

Ten foreign companies, including Glencore<br />

Energy uk, tendered to supply fuel to Zambia<br />

which had invited tenders after the expiry<br />

of a contract with Glencore.<br />

Petronas energy-efficient “twin petrol stations”<br />

To maintain themselves as the local market<br />

leader in the oil and gas industry, Petronas<br />

Dagangan Berhad (PDB) has launched two<br />

new energy-efficient “twin fuel stations”.<br />

This new breed of station offer customers<br />

the convenience of a rest stop for their<br />

travelling needs with different services and<br />

experiences. There are four energy-efficient<br />

characteristics which separate these two<br />

stations from the regular, specifically, having<br />

solar photovoltaic panel, light-emitting<br />

diode (LED) lights, rain water harvesting and<br />

nitrogen tyre-inflator. The solar photovoltaic<br />

panel has the capacity to generate around<br />

200 kW of electricity per hour. This power<br />

source is equivalent to the energy needed<br />

to supply 90 households a year. With this<br />

innovative move, the stations can reduce<br />

greenhouse emissions by approximately<br />

138 tons of carbon dioxide annually. The<br />

two station’s lighting installation reduces<br />

electricity expenditure while providing better<br />

lighting illumination to the area. Also,<br />

the LED lights are regulated by an energy<br />

management system which controls and<br />

manages the air-conditioning temperature<br />

at the station to provide a comfortable<br />

environment for customers. As part of<br />

Petronas’ water conservation efforts, the<br />

rain water harvesting system was built to<br />

prevent water being wasted. The station<br />

stores approximately 82 500 litres of water<br />

to be recycled and used only for cleaning,<br />

watering plants and lavatory flushing. The<br />

nitrogen tyre-inflator is an environmentallyfriendlier<br />

alternative that assists in enhancing<br />

fuel economy and tyre life.<br />

Qatar Petroleum wants stake in Petronet LNG<br />

Qatar Petroleum has expressed interest in<br />

buying a 5.2 percent stake in Petronet LNG<br />

Ltd, a potentially conflict of interest proposition<br />

as it will give the gas supplier a vantage<br />

position as india’s largest fuel importer.<br />

Qatar Petroleum, the Persian Gulf country’s<br />

state-run energy firm, has majority stakes in<br />

RasGas and QatarGas that along with other<br />

liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers in the<br />

Costco joins fuel war in Australia<br />

international discount giant Costco is scouring<br />

Melbourne for its first cut-price service<br />

station in readiness for a fuel war. The uS<br />

warehouse chain has identified sites in the<br />

southern and northern suburbs. it hopes to<br />

have its first fuel pumps flowing within a few<br />

years. A new Costco retail outlet will be built<br />

world compete to sell fuel to india. if Qatar<br />

Petroleum (QP) picks up 5.2 percent stake<br />

as well as a board position in Petronet, it will<br />

give the company an undue advantage over<br />

other suppliers as it will be privy to price<br />

and other negotiations, sources in Petronet’s<br />

company said. This will possibly be the first<br />

instance of a LNG supplier picking up a stake<br />

in an importing firm.<br />

alongside the service station. Costco’s entry<br />

in the fuel market will intensify competition<br />

between the other two big players, Coles and<br />

Woolworths. Costco is awaiting State Government<br />

approval, expected in February, to roll<br />

out its first petrol outlet north of Brisbane.<br />

Costco Australia Managing Director Patrick<br />

Noone said the Costco initiative “will be<br />

competition, competition, competition. That’s<br />

the name of the game – we would like to have<br />

several stores in the Melbourne market”, he<br />

said. Putting pressure on the majors to do a<br />

better deal will increase competition. Any<br />

additional competition into the petrol indus -<br />

try we certainly welcome.<br />

latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

NEwS – MIDDLE EaST, aFRICa & aSIa<br />

9


NEwS – MIDDLE EaST, aFRICa & aSIa<br />

10<br />

ToTaL unveils its new visual identity<br />

Total Jordan has unveiled the new visual<br />

identity of its service-station network. TOTAL<br />

say that the ‘T-Air’ image is another sign of<br />

the continuous dynamism and innovation in<br />

TOTAL Group. Total Jordan will gradually<br />

roll out the new design in 2013 and 2014 at<br />

all of its service stations as part of its aim to<br />

strengthen its network’s identity with a more<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

contemporary image and more energy efficient<br />

installations. As of today, Total Jordan operates<br />

24 service stations employing about 500<br />

people. The recent award of an Oil Marketing<br />

Company License will allow Total Jordan<br />

to cement its position in the country and<br />

significantly enlarge its presence to be more<br />

accessible to every Jordanian.<br />

Tanzania – local tender for bulk fuel<br />

For the first time since the introduction of the<br />

Bulk Procurement System (BPS) of purchasing<br />

fuel, a local company has participated in<br />

the tendering process and emerged as the<br />

winner. Gapco Tanzania Ltd is the first local<br />

company to apply and win the tender. it will<br />

supply 282 870 metric-tonnes of oil products<br />

for delivery in February this year. “We made<br />

the best offer with the support of our parent<br />

company, Reliance industries”, Gapco’s<br />

Business Development Manager Natarajan<br />

Anand explained. The indian conglomerate<br />

company, Reliance industries, acquired the<br />

petroleum marketing operations of Gapco in<br />

2007. Gapco also offered the most competitive<br />

weighted average DAP Premier per Metrictonnes<br />

which is worth $ 52.55.<br />

Esso plans 100 stations in three years<br />

Esso Thailand has outlined plans to grow its<br />

fuel retail network by 100 fuel service stations<br />

within the next three years. The company plans<br />

to have a network of 570 sites operational by<br />

2015. Esso Thailand’s Director and Retail<br />

Sales Manager Yodpong Sutatham noted that<br />

the company had renovated 200 of its fuel<br />

service stations over the past two years with<br />

another 100 to be renovated in 2013. Esso<br />

has allocated an investment budget of 1 billion<br />

baht for business expansion this year, up<br />

from about 600 million baht spent in 2012.<br />

PTT offer E20 gasohol at 1 000 stations<br />

PTT will expand to 1 000 the number of fuel<br />

stations pumping E20 gasohol, from 600 currently,<br />

after the removal of 91-octane petrol<br />

from the market this year. The company’s E20<br />

gasohol campaign that started in August last<br />

year had doubled the sales of this fuel, which<br />

is 20 percent ethanol, to 24 million litres<br />

per day. During this year PTT wil convert<br />

its 91-octane pumps to distribute 95-octane<br />

petrol and E20 gasohol, with more focus on<br />

the latter. The company plans to pump E20<br />

at 400 more stations than the current level,<br />

for a total of 1 000 stations nationwide. it<br />

has also drawn up a comprehensive plan to<br />

promote E85 gasohol.<br />

Pertamina plans downstream investment<br />

indonesian state oil firm Pertamina plans<br />

to invest $ 6.77 billion in its upstream and<br />

downstream arms as it seeks to boost production<br />

and strengthen the country’s energy<br />

infrastructure. The investment has been<br />

confirmed in the company’s 2013 budget and<br />

work plan following a meeting of the general<br />

shareholders. “Our investment strategy this<br />

year will be focused on major projects that will<br />

smooth the progress of Pertamina to becoming<br />

a world-class energy company”, remarked karen<br />

Agustiawan, Pertamina’s President Director.<br />

46 percent of the investment, $ 3.1 billion,<br />

has been allocated to the upstream business,<br />

where the company plans to increase crude<br />

output to 244 000 barrel per day. Pertamina<br />

will invest $ 638 million and $ 546 million in<br />

its refining and marketing business respectively.<br />

Lubricant sales have been targeted as a key<br />

source of growth: the company plans to sell<br />

680 000 kilolitres of lubricant products this<br />

year, up from 617 000 kilolitres in 2012.


Nepal allows private firms to import<br />

Nepal’s government is considering allowing<br />

private companies to import crude oil products<br />

which would resolve chronic fuel shortages<br />

and end the state’s monopoly on a trade worth<br />

about $ 1 billion a year, a trade ministry official<br />

has said. Nepal buys all its fuel from abroad<br />

and state-run Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC)<br />

is currently the sole importer of the 21 000<br />

barrels per day of crude oil products the<br />

country needs. NOC, however, is plagued by<br />

insufficient storage capacity, a poor transport<br />

network and difficulties in paying its sole<br />

supplier, indian Oil Corp, creating frequent<br />

fuel shortages and long queues at fuel stations.<br />

“We want to open up the fuel business<br />

to the private sector. Private firms will be<br />

able to import, store and distribute fuel, oil<br />

and lubricants just like the NOC does”, said<br />

Lal Mani Joshi, the most Senior Bureaucrat<br />

at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies<br />

and chairman of NOC’s board. A proposal to<br />

allow imports by the private sector has been<br />

submitted to the cabinet, Joshi said, adding<br />

that it was not immediately clear when it<br />

would be approved.<br />

Nigeria imports fuel from the Niger<br />

The Operations Controller at the Department<br />

of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Alhaji Syyadi<br />

Suleiman Abubakar, has said that Nigeria<br />

now imports diesel and petrol from Niger<br />

Republic, as his department closed 10 filling<br />

stations over an allegation of selling the product<br />

above the official retail price. Abubakar<br />

is looking to ensure that long queues at fuel<br />

stations disappear. According to him, the<br />

government has no financial commitment<br />

on importation of diesel and gas from Niger<br />

Republic as the two products had already<br />

been deregulated. He also confirmed that<br />

about 80 percent of fuel stations were not<br />

getting petroleum products from the depot,<br />

due to scarcity.<br />

Conoil adds 60 fuel stations this year<br />

Oil marketer, Conoil Plc, will in 2013 establish<br />

60 new retail outlets spread across Nigeria as<br />

part of its major strategic expansion programme.<br />

The expansion programme will<br />

foresee a 4.8 bil lion naira investment and<br />

it is aimed at growing the company’s sales<br />

and revenue by over 65 percent, according<br />

to a statement. it is projected that the new<br />

stations will complement the company’s plan<br />

for massive importation of refined petroleum<br />

products this year. The retail outlets, Conoil<br />

added, would offer robust and automated network,<br />

which would leverage on technology to<br />

deliver the assurance of quality products and<br />

improve service efficiency at the forecourts.<br />

The expansion project represents the second<br />

phase of the company’s comprehensive fouryear<br />

plan which started two years ago.<br />

PTG plans to expand network in Thailand<br />

Most people in the retail oil industry think<br />

the business has matured over many years, but<br />

Pitak Ratchakitprakarn, Chief Executive of<br />

PTG Energy Plc (PTG), the operator of PT<br />

fuel stations, thinks otherwise. The withdrawal<br />

of international oil retailers such as Conoco,<br />

Petronas and kuwait Oil from the Thai market<br />

is also another sign that this business is no<br />

longer as attractive as it used to be. But while<br />

other oil companies may have scaled down or<br />

even shelved their investment budgets, PTG<br />

is planning to expand its fuel station network<br />

nationwide. Mr Pitak said the fuel market in<br />

Bangkok and its vicinity has matured but the<br />

situation is different in large cities in central<br />

and north eastern provinces. According to Pitak,<br />

there are currently 20 000 fuel stations in the<br />

country, of which 15 000 are operated indepen -<br />

dently by private landlords or investors.<br />

latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

NEwS – MIDDLE EaST, aFRICa & aSIa<br />

Engen goes ‘Green’<br />

in sub saharan Africa<br />

Engen has completed its greening pilot at<br />

three African retail service sites, making<br />

multiple energy- and water-saving alterations.<br />

it now believes it has identified the<br />

most effective and efficient sustainability<br />

interventions for its purposes, ones that can<br />

decrease its carbon footprint and operating<br />

costs when rolled out more broadly. in<br />

subsequent projects, the group will focus<br />

on greening more of its retail sites in its<br />

19 territories across sub-Saharan Africa<br />

and the indian Ocean islands and, after<br />

that, turn to its depots and offices across<br />

the group.<br />

Petronas completes<br />

acquisitions<br />

Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PDB) has announced<br />

the completion of its acquisition<br />

of Petronas Vietnam Co Ltd (PVL) and<br />

Thang Long LPG Co Ltd (TLLCL) in<br />

Vietnam in accordance with the terms of<br />

the share sale and purchase agreements<br />

dated 1st June 2012. in a statement from<br />

kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Petronas noted<br />

that both PVL and TLLCL will be held<br />

by PDB following the completion of the<br />

acquisition, via its newly incorporated and<br />

wholly-owned investment holding company,<br />

PDB (Netherlands) BV. “Following this,<br />

PDB has completed the acquisition of all<br />

the six downstream companies in South<br />

East Asia”, said the Statement. As part of<br />

the company’s expansion strategy in South<br />

East Asia, PDB will undertake targeted<br />

investments to propel future growth for<br />

these newly acquired companies.<br />

Puma Energy buys<br />

major independent<br />

in Australia Puma Energy plans to win<br />

market share from the major players in<br />

the local fuel market after buying up over<br />

120 fuel service stations. The Swiss firm,<br />

owned by global commodity trading firm<br />

Trafigura, has agreed to buy Neumann<br />

Petroleum, owner of the Matilda and<br />

Neumann-branded fuel service stations. in<br />

addition to the retail chain, the transaction<br />

includes an $ 18 million bulk seaboard fuel<br />

terminal at Brisbane’s Eagle Farm. Puma’s<br />

Australian general manager Ray Taylor<br />

said that the company’s entry will “bring<br />

more robust competition to the country’s<br />

petroleum market”. “Australia has a strong<br />

economy, a growing retail and mining-driven<br />

fuel market with enormous potential and<br />

this is an ideal environment in which to<br />

continue our global growth efforts”, he noted.<br />

11


NEwS – MIDDLE EaST, aFRICa & aSIa<br />

12<br />

Indian refiners contribute<br />

to growth – IEa<br />

india’s refiners were some of the biggest<br />

contributors to global refining growth during<br />

2012, according to the international<br />

Energy Agency (iEA). in its latest figures,<br />

the energy watchdog reported that india<br />

4.5 million barrel per day of crude oil in<br />

October, 680 000 barrel per day higher<br />

than a year earlier. in the year to October<br />

2012, crude runs are up 260 000 barrel per<br />

day on 2011, accounting for almost half<br />

of global crude throughput growth in the<br />

same period. in 2013, another 400 000<br />

barrel per day of capacity could be added<br />

if indian Oil Corporation’s 300 000 barrel<br />

per day Paradip and Nagarjuna’s 120 000<br />

barrel per day Cuddalore refineries are<br />

completed on schedule. However, the iEA<br />

noted that further investments planned for<br />

the medium term are getting increasingly<br />

hard to justify, as india’s state refiners<br />

have to supply the domestic market at<br />

subsidised prices.<br />

bPC Corporation<br />

finalises contracts<br />

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC)<br />

said that it finalised contracts with eight<br />

foreign companies to import oil products<br />

for the first half of this calendar year<br />

at mostly higher premiums than in the<br />

current contracts. BPC is the country’s<br />

only oil importer and distributor. The<br />

government ‘generously’ subsidises the<br />

BPC that sells fuel-oil to the local market<br />

at lower prices than the import rates. The<br />

total subsidy for the year to June 2012<br />

was Taka 460 billion ($ 6 billion), which<br />

is above double the original estimate of<br />

Taka 200 billion and up from Taka 195<br />

billion in 2011.<br />

Fuel subsidy bill<br />

rising in in Egypt<br />

Egyptian General Petroleum (EGPC)<br />

Chairman Hani Dahi warned that costs<br />

of fuel subsidies is growing and may reach<br />

30.9 billion Egyptian pounds ($ 4.79 billion)<br />

for the first quarter of the calendar<br />

year. Dahi said that Egypt have spent<br />

30 billion pounds each quarter subsidising<br />

fuel since the current fiscal year began<br />

1st July. 20 percent of the country’s public<br />

expenditure is absorbed by fuel subsidy.<br />

“Spending on fuel subsidies in the third<br />

quarter will rise between 2 percent to<br />

3 percent”, said Dahi. Egypt is currently<br />

working to finalise an iMF loan for $ 4.8 billion,<br />

while EGPC owes foreign partners<br />

a total of $ 4.5 billion.<br />

unioil to expand retail network<br />

Small fuel company unioil Philippines Petroleum<br />

inc. is looking at investing a minimum<br />

of 200 million Phillipine pesos as it plans to<br />

further expand its retail network. unioil say<br />

they plan to put up 10 to 12 service stations<br />

this year and between 10–12 stations annually<br />

over the next three years. They expect a 15<br />

percent growth in sales volume in 2013 driven<br />

by their planned expansion. The company is<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

focused only on building company-owned<br />

stations however they are not closing their<br />

doors to dealer-owned stations. Recently<br />

unioil launched its “Go Green Future Campaign”,<br />

which promotes Euro Diesel iV fuel<br />

available in all of its service stations. They<br />

are sourcing Euro Diesel iV stocks from<br />

Singapore and is more than two years ahead<br />

of the 2016 mandate.<br />

Engen – largest fuel supplier in Kenya<br />

in what is expected to diminish the practice<br />

of oil price fixing in kenya, Engen, has signed<br />

a strategic partnership with the kenya inde -<br />

pen dent Petroleum Dealers Association<br />

(kiPEDA). under the deal, Engen is expected<br />

to supply (as the sole supplier of the group)<br />

fuel, lubricants and technical support on fuel<br />

station operation, to independent dealers that<br />

have no links to multinational oil majors.<br />

kiPEDA went into strategic partnership with<br />

Engen, which the group felt could help it<br />

leverage the strength of its members to their<br />

collective benefit. independent indigenous<br />

kenyan dealers operate more than 500 sites<br />

currently – making up half of the kenyan<br />

retail fuel sector. The deal with Engen is<br />

expected to overcome erratic fuel and lubricants<br />

supply, uneconomic price margins and<br />

lack of access to quality products.<br />

Nigeria to build 30 new fuel stations<br />

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corpora -<br />

tion (NNPC) plans to build new petrol stations<br />

for about 4 billion naira this year even<br />

as it said that the Federal Government lost<br />

241.93 billion naira to crude theft between<br />

2006 and last year. The highest 98.03 billion<br />

naira theft was recorded in 2011. The nation<br />

lost another 105 billion nairas to pipeline<br />

vandalisation in Niger Delta. These figures<br />

were contained in the NNPC’s 2012 budget<br />

performance and its proposed 2013 budget<br />

which it submitted to the National Assembly<br />

Joint Committees on Petroleum Resources<br />

(upstream/Downstream/Gas).<br />

Chinese firm to build $ 7.5 billion refinery<br />

Sino Arab Energy (SAE), a Chinese firm,<br />

has concluded plans to build a refinery at<br />

Akabuyo, in the Local Government Area of<br />

Cross River State, Nigeria in partnership with<br />

a local firm, Osabo Refining and Petrochemical<br />

industry Limited. The refinery, which is<br />

expected to process 107 000 barrel per day of<br />

crude, has been valued at $ 7.5 billion. Hon<br />

Etim Effiong Okon, a member of Osabo’s<br />

management team, said that the process<br />

for the procurement of requisite licenses<br />

to establish and operate the refinery had<br />

commenced. He promised that Akwa Esuk<br />

Eyamba, the community where the refinery<br />

will be located, had donated 500 hectares<br />

of land for the facility. The refinery is set for<br />

completion within five years, with construction<br />

beginning in 2014.<br />

Israel backs alternative fuels to petroleum<br />

israel’s Government has backed the development<br />

of compressed natural gas, methanol<br />

mixes and other fuel alternatives, noting that<br />

non-petroleum fuels will reduce the country’s<br />

dependence on oil. 2013 to 2025 will become<br />

a transition period for israel’s transportation<br />

sector to non-petroleum alternative energy<br />

sources. A team led by National Economic<br />

Council Chairman Professor Eugene kandel<br />

was formed in 2010 to formulate national policy<br />

on reducing petroleum dependence and calls for<br />

1.5 billion shekel state investment in alternative<br />

fuels over the next decade. The plan is to<br />

reduce the weight of petroleum as an energy<br />

source for transportation by 30 percent in 2020<br />

and 60 percent in 2025. The proposal also<br />

mandates that the government must establish<br />

a comprehensive action plan for alternative fuel<br />

integration, while simplifying bureaucratic and<br />

regulatory processes that will promote technological<br />

developments as well as infrastructure<br />

growth for alternative transportation.


latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

13


PRoDuCT NEwS<br />

14<br />

Retalix shareholders<br />

approve NCR buy-out<br />

Shareholders in Retalix, a provider of software<br />

and services for fuel retailers, have<br />

approved a takeover of the company by<br />

NCR Corporation. The transaction remains<br />

subject to regulatory approval and certain<br />

other closing conditions, while at least 30<br />

days must pass before it becomes effective<br />

under israeli law. The Takeover is expected<br />

to be completed during the first quarter of<br />

this year. The company serves a customer<br />

base of approximately 70 000 stores across<br />

more than 50 countries from its headquarters<br />

in Ra’anana, israel and its North<br />

America headquarters in Plano, Texas.<br />

Wincor Nixdorf enters<br />

mobile wallet space<br />

Wincor Nixdorf inc., a leading provider<br />

of iT solutions and services to retailers<br />

and retail banks, is rolling out the Wincor<br />

Wallet for mobile cashless payments in<br />

all retail sales channels, including fuel<br />

stations, turning the smart-phone into a<br />

wallet.Whether in stationary retail, web<br />

shops or mobile stores, the Wincor Wallet<br />

can be accessed for mobile payment by all<br />

standard smart-phones through the use of<br />

QR codes or near-field communication<br />

(NFC) technology. The Wincor Nixdorf’s<br />

Payment Gateway server operating in the<br />

background enables the solution. in addition<br />

to processing traditional, card-based<br />

payments, this also allows modern Wallet<br />

transactions to be processed in an iT environment<br />

certified by the Payment Card<br />

industry (PCi), which ensures the security<br />

of the cashless transactions. The Wincor<br />

Wallet provides a platform for combining<br />

different mobile payment and loyalty solutions<br />

such as mobile use of debit or credit<br />

cards, mobile coupons or redeeming mobile<br />

vouchers at the checkout via smart-phone,<br />

the company said.<br />

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

kPS opens new subsidiary in Turkey<br />

kungsörs Plast AB, the supplier of the kPS<br />

Petrol Pipe System, announced that a subsidiary<br />

opens in Turkey with Mr Ali Güler<br />

as Regional Sales Manager, working out of<br />

istanbul. Staffan Helleday, Sales Director<br />

kPS HQ and Ali Güler, Regional Sales<br />

Manager kPS Turkey. Mr Güler will further<br />

strengthen the customer support and<br />

service offer in Turkey and he will continue<br />

the training system and introduce the kPS<br />

Petrol Pipe System conductive system all<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

over the country. Staffan Helleday, Sales<br />

Director of kPS said: “kPS welcomes this<br />

progress and we are very positive towards the<br />

expansion in Turkey and we are accelerating<br />

our activities further by setting up a local<br />

sales subsidiary and warehouse to serve our<br />

customers in Turkey better.” We invite you<br />

to come and meet kPS Turkey at Petroleum<br />

istanbul Exhibition between the 11th and<br />

14th of April 2013. Welcome to our booth<br />

in Hall 8, at Petrol Expo.<br />

New Tokheim Italy website is online<br />

Tokheim, one of the world’s largest suppliers of<br />

fuel retailing solutions, announces the launch<br />

of its new italian website as part of its global<br />

rebranding strategy. The new italian website<br />

gives an overview of all products and services<br />

relating to the local marketplace. News that<br />

is relevant to the italian fuel retailing sector<br />

will be regularly updated. A new set of additional<br />

sales material for all of Tokheim italy’s<br />

NUPIGECO PP-RCT NIRON system<br />

NuPiGECO has obtained its first certificate of<br />

conformity iiP for its NiRON piping produced<br />

with PP-RCT raw material. PP-RCT is a new<br />

generation of polypropylene, already included<br />

in EN iSO 15874 standard. it represents the<br />

evolution of Polypropylene Random with better<br />

performance than its predecessor PPR80.<br />

Furthermore, with the same outside diameter,<br />

the flow rate of the fluid is higher. PP-RCT<br />

allows for a more stringent classification, per-<br />

products and services is now also available to<br />

download. Fabiano Clerico, General Manager<br />

italy, says, “Tokheim is the largest supplier<br />

of solutions to the fuel retail sector in italy.<br />

it is important that we are able to share the<br />

exciting range of products and services we<br />

offer in a clear and innovative manner. Our<br />

customers have moved more towards digital<br />

communications and we are happy to communicate<br />

with them in a more modern way.<br />

We will continue to engage with customers<br />

through our social media platforms.” Tokheim’s<br />

website was recently nominated for a CSS<br />

Design Award and it is now available in italian,<br />

English and French. Additional country<br />

specific sites will go live in the coming months.<br />

To visit the italian website directly, go to<br />

www.tokheim.com/it.<br />

mitting it to reach class 5 of the EN iSO 15874<br />

standard (performance at high temperatures)<br />

before reserved only for PEX and PB. The high<br />

performance ability of the material allows it to<br />

achieve the same performance as PPR80 by<br />

reducing the wall thickness and increasing the<br />

flow rate of the fluid. NuPiGECO S.p.A - Via<br />

Stefano Ferrario Z.i. Sud-Ovest - 21052 Busto<br />

Arsizio (VA) italy - tel.: +39.0331.344211 - fax:<br />

+39.0331.351860 www.nupigeco.com


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

Codax helps Shell control car wash sales<br />

PSD Codax is helping retail giant Shell<br />

strengthen control of car wash sales at its<br />

uk forecourts. New Codax Code Generator<br />

technology is being integrated with point of<br />

sale (POS) systems at more than 150 Shell<br />

uk forecourt sites following a deal with POS<br />

iT support company Wincor-Nixdorf. Linking<br />

Codax technology with its POS systems will<br />

enable Shell head office to gather accurate<br />

data about car wash sales and customer<br />

buying habits. it will also help retailers<br />

improve revenue control and simplify the<br />

sales process for shop staff who will be able<br />

to sell washes direct from their POS screen.<br />

A single Codax Code Generator Terminal<br />

(CCGT), which has ethernet connectivity,<br />

eliminates the need for under-counter wiring<br />

and multiple Codax ticket printer terminals.<br />

The CCGT plugs directly into the in-store<br />

network so that all POS terminals can be<br />

used to sell car wash and jet wash programmes<br />

and customer access code tickets are then<br />

printed by the local POS retail printer. Car<br />

wash codes are issued only after a sale has<br />

been completed which stops unauthorised<br />

issues and speeds up the sales process and<br />

greatly improves the daily reconciliation<br />

process for station managers.<br />

Relaunch of Hectronic company website<br />

Hectronic is proud to introduce its redesigned<br />

website. The comparison between the old<br />

website, on the left hand side and the new<br />

version, on the right is shown below. There<br />

have been significant renewals, especially<br />

with regard to the Hectronic image change<br />

from a product manufacturer to a solution<br />

provider. Hectronic’s updated website has<br />

a new “Solutions” area where you can find<br />

intelligent and perfectly coordinated system<br />

solutions for fuel station management. Furthermore<br />

the new design of the site is matched<br />

to Hectronic’s Corporate Design. Visitors can<br />

access the three main areas directly from the<br />

home page: Parking, Refuelling and Sensor<br />

Systems. The redesigned website gives users<br />

a quick and structured overview about the<br />

entire Hectronic portfolio.<br />

WashTec strengthens activities at the truckwash<br />

WashTec, a leading manufacturer of vehicle<br />

wash systems, has big plans for 2013 and<br />

puts specifically the cleaning and maintenance<br />

of busses and trucks in the focus of<br />

its activities. New product manager for the<br />

bus and truck wash division Hans-Peter Popp<br />

has announced the roll-out of a number of<br />

different products for the new commercial<br />

line MaxiWash. Prior to joining WashTec<br />

in 2006, Popp worked for many years as a<br />

product manager in the commercial vehicle<br />

sector.<br />

Franklin appoints Southern African Master Distributors<br />

Southern African Master Distributors has<br />

been appointed as an official distributor of<br />

uPP piping and containment systems for<br />

Franklin Fueling Systems, the companies have<br />

announced. “With effect from 21st January<br />

2013, Southern African Master Distributors<br />

will undertake the Southern African distribution<br />

of Franklin Fueling Systems Piping<br />

& Containment, featuring uPP semi-rigid<br />

pipework, Gemini secondary containment<br />

and electro-fusion containment systems”,<br />

said a Franklin statement. “The transition to<br />

this new distribution structure is a focused<br />

strategy on the part of Franklin Fueling<br />

Systems to align the core competencies of<br />

our existing distributor networks with the<br />

inherent requirements of specific product<br />

brands. The new distribution structure is<br />

intended to impart logistical efficiencies to<br />

the market, foster a competitive customer<br />

service environment, and increase points<br />

of supply and availability to all customers,<br />

including Major Oil’s and installation<br />

Companies.” According to the company, the<br />

need for a resilient supply channel able to<br />

offer products that underwrite the Health,<br />

Safety and Environmental (HSE) expectations<br />

associated with the uPP brand was a<br />

key driver of the decision to name a specialist<br />

distributor for the market. “Southern African<br />

Master Distributors (SAMD) is also able to<br />

offer continuing professional development<br />

training on uPP brand products to installers<br />

within Southern Africa”, Franklin noted.<br />

“The addition of the well-known quality uPP<br />

brand to SAMD’s product line is another<br />

step in positioning Southern African Master<br />

Distributors as the broad-based supplier of<br />

choice for all retail forecourt equipment.<br />

We are delighted to be representing uPP in<br />

our marketing territories”, said kevin Black,<br />

Managing Director of Southern African<br />

Master Distributors. SAMD also took over<br />

the Southern African interests of Dresser<br />

Wayne in 2004. The firm has since worked<br />

to distribute dispensers, forecourt control<br />

systems, ATG, pump maintenance, POS<br />

and now adds pipework to its competencies.<br />

latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

KSS Fuels unveils<br />

survey highlighting<br />

fuel pricing trends<br />

PRoDuCT NEwS<br />

kSS Fuels, a leader in fuels pricing and<br />

retail location intelligence, unveiled the<br />

results of its multi-country survey into<br />

current fuel pricing practices and the<br />

steps fuel retailers are taking to cope<br />

with the continued rise in competition<br />

for market share amid static or falling<br />

demand for motor fuels. Comprising<br />

feedback from executives at retail petroleum<br />

companies operating more than<br />

11 000 sites in 14 countries, responses<br />

reveal a significant shift in the attitude<br />

of fuel retailers toward technology and<br />

a growing desire to understand how the<br />

combination of improved processes and<br />

predictive analytics drive bottom-line<br />

results. Survey findings show a growing<br />

trend to move away from in-house developed<br />

pricing systems to commercially<br />

developed and maintained applications,<br />

with 76 percent of respondents stating<br />

they use third party pricing applications,<br />

of which 62 percent chose a kSS Fuels<br />

application. “This most recent survey<br />

indicates a significant shift in fuel retailers’<br />

attitudes toward advanced analytics<br />

and decision support, highlighting that<br />

today’s market conditions and increasing<br />

competition are demanding a more<br />

sophisticated approach to fuels pricing”,<br />

said Bob Stein, President and CEO of<br />

kSS Fuels. “We’re seeing an increasing<br />

number of fuel retailers moving away from<br />

in-house tools and spread-sheets to adopt<br />

dedicated commercial applications that<br />

are maintained and updated by business<br />

specialists like kSS Fuels.”<br />

Tokheim achieves<br />

full compliance<br />

Tokheim has announced that it is now PCi<br />

DSS certified for its Online Authorisation<br />

and Switching Environment (OASE) payment<br />

gateway service. This certification<br />

has been awarded subsequent to a comprehensive<br />

audit that took place in September<br />

last year. Tokheim’s OASE, facilitates fuel<br />

and bank card payments in a fuel retail<br />

environment and it currently processes<br />

more than 300 million transactions per<br />

year. PCi DSS is a multifaceted security<br />

standard that includes requirements for<br />

security management, policies, procedures,<br />

network architecture, software design<br />

and other critical protective measures.<br />

This comprehensive standard is in place<br />

to proactively support organisations to<br />

protect their customer account data.<br />

15


FAIRBANKS – AN INTELLIGENT FUTURE<br />

16<br />

bob Conlin,<br />

Managing Director<br />

An intelligent future for<br />

Fairbanks by Nick Needs<br />

Last August, Shell awarded a three year<br />

global wetstock contract to uk based company<br />

Fairbanks, in partnership with systems and<br />

dispenser manufacturer TOkHEiM, to deliver<br />

its services to more than 3 000 petrol stations,<br />

in 25 countries, across three continents. At<br />

the time Shell’s Wetstock Manager for North<br />

West Europe, Peter Houlton said, “Shell identified<br />

a number of sites which would benefit<br />

from remote wet stock monitoring during a<br />

recent risk assessment. Fairbanks emerged<br />

as our provider of choice after a comprehensive<br />

tender process and comparative trial of<br />

service providers. Fairbanks offer Statistical<br />

inventory Reconciliation Analysis (SiRA)<br />

and Real Time monitoring to a high standard.<br />

Fairbanks’ wetstock management service will<br />

be critical to help manage our global petrol<br />

retail network using various data capture<br />

solutions and valuable reporting methods and<br />

we are looking forward to working with them<br />

over the coming years. Baudouin de la Tour,<br />

TOkHEiM CEO, said, “We are very pleased<br />

with the success of the Fairbanks-TOkHEiM<br />

partnership in the worldwide Shell tender for<br />

wet stock monitoring”. We aim to provide a<br />

range of products and services that provide<br />

genuine return on investment to our customers<br />

around the world. in 2010 Fairbanks joined<br />

forces with TOkHEiM, a global service sta-<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

tions solution provider, to help expand the<br />

business internationally.<br />

it must be said that this achievement is a<br />

significant milestone in the company’s history<br />

and reward for the hard work carried out by<br />

Directors Bob Conlin and Steve Jones over<br />

the last 20 years. The hair on Steve’s head<br />

has definitely turned much whiter in that time,<br />

whilst on Bob’s there just seems to be far less<br />

of it, but Bob also seems to have become far<br />

more relaxed, or is it more accomplished in his<br />

manner and appearance during the time i have<br />

known him, a good attribute in any Managing<br />

Director. in any event, i felt, it was definitely<br />

the right time to get Mr Conlin to talk some<br />

more about Fairbanks and ask him to identify<br />

the challenges and opportunities he feels<br />

retailers will be facing over the coming years.<br />

From my perspective there are a number<br />

of company profiles which i tend to lump<br />

together and believe that the suppliers in<br />

question all roughly do the same thing. Leak<br />

detection, tank monitoring, leak prevention,<br />

fuel monitoring, tank gauging etc., but the<br />

more i probe (forgive the pun) into this whole<br />

subject, every company involved in this line<br />

of business does seem to have its own unique<br />

concept point. Fairbanks is no exception and<br />

over the next two pages you will hopefully see<br />

why. i took Bob through a simple questions<br />

and answer session to which he was happy to<br />

supply answers in typical Bob style i. e. well<br />

thought out and no stone unturned!<br />

i first asked him to explain the marketing<br />

objectives of Fairbanks and detail the benefits<br />

retailers can achieve by adopting their<br />

specific company offering. He replied “Fuel<br />

profit margins are being squeezed each year<br />

and the value of fuel losses is increasing. We<br />

show retailers how their business can save mon -<br />

ey on maintenance, reduced fuel losses and<br />

lower their risk, all at the same time through<br />

remote wetstock management, powered by<br />

‘real-time data’. improving retail petroleum<br />

business through better fuel control, is our<br />

primary marketing objective. When talking to<br />

retailers we offer to share with them a vision<br />

of their business in the future, powered by an<br />

intelligent fuel control system, giving them<br />

visibility of their product from fuel terminal<br />

to customer vehicle”.<br />

To best explain all this in a straight forward and<br />

concise manner i. e. simple, i asked Bob if he<br />

could present to me, imagining i was a retailer<br />

interested in utilising the services Fairbanks


has to offer. Bob was extremely pleased to<br />

conduct this undertaking and promptly moved<br />

up another three gears.<br />

He continued. “imagine for a moment that all<br />

of the information collected by the equipment<br />

on your site was available to you with the click<br />

of a button, collating all the data across all of<br />

the sites in your network instantly. How powerful<br />

a tool would that be? Many retailers have<br />

invested heavily into installing expensive onsite<br />

equipment such as Automatic Tank Gauges<br />

(ATG) and high-end dispensers. This type of<br />

equipment is a valuable asset to the effective<br />

running of a petrol forecourt. But in many cases<br />

retailers are failing to take full advantage of the<br />

tools, information and visibility of stock that<br />

this type of equipment makes available to them.”<br />

The answer he said is a real-time wetstock<br />

management solution which collects and collates<br />

this data making it available to retailers<br />

in real-time. “Having a real-time wetstock<br />

solution in place is the missing link between<br />

your site equipment and you. The data is<br />

gathered and made available in the form of<br />

intelligent management reports that can be<br />

generated online from a mobile phone or laptop,<br />

eliminating the unnecessary data tracking<br />

that usually requires visits or phone calls to<br />

numerous sites, reducing workload for area<br />

or network managers. This intelligent data<br />

reporting uses not only the fuel information<br />

but sales records also. This means that fuel<br />

purchasing decisions can be made intelligently<br />

as anticipated sales and stock holdings across<br />

sites can be viewed instantly.”<br />

Controlling fuel investment<br />

Across a network of sites many thousands of<br />

euros worth of fuel can be delivered in just one<br />

week, and Fairbanks state that by increasing<br />

stock visibility retailers can account for every<br />

litre that is delivered, thereby protecting their<br />

investment. Bob added “Losses don’t just happen<br />

on the forecourt, delivery based losses are<br />

an increasingly common headache for retailers.<br />

When an order of 10 000 litres of product is<br />

made, this is the amount that one would expect<br />

to be dropped into the tank, but that is very<br />

rarely the case. Fuel can often travel many<br />

kilometres before it is delivered to a service<br />

station and as a result of this, transit can be<br />

heavily impacted by temperature changes. Add<br />

to that the issues with short deliveries, tanker<br />

thefts and tanker leaks and all of sudden a<br />

delivery provides retailers with a number of<br />

areas of concern. unfortunately it is impossible<br />

to be present at every single delivery<br />

across even a small network of sites, so how<br />

can retailers be sure of what they are getting<br />

delivered? An intelligent wetstock management<br />

solution would be able to identify exactly how<br />

much fuel was dropped into the tank even if<br />

sales are taking place at the same time. This<br />

means that retailers can be made aware of<br />

any discrepancies between the fuel that they<br />

ordered and the fuel actually received into the<br />

tank by making the data available online to<br />

be viewed from home or the office”.<br />

Limiting losses<br />

An investigation to identify the source of losses<br />

on a forecourt traditionally involves extensive<br />

line and tank testing, dispenser isolation and<br />

costly maintenance call-outs, but Fairbanks<br />

confidently point to the fact that a real-time fuel<br />

management solution will identify the source<br />

of a loss in a matter of days rather than weeks.<br />

Bob explains “Data collected by a real-time<br />

wetstock management system will relay all of<br />

this information back to a data analyst. At this<br />

point the data can be examined and losses will<br />

be identified. Concurrently the data is submitted<br />

to an accredited statistical testing regimen<br />

run by the system, giving retailers the security<br />

of a software solution and the reassurance of<br />

human involvement and communication. By<br />

monitoring fuel movement across the site the<br />

data analyst can quickly pin point the source<br />

of the losses and then work with the retailer to<br />

achieve a positive solution. This full visibility of<br />

fuel movement on site will even identify losses<br />

that would otherwise be disguised by equipment<br />

such as Automatic Temperature Compensating<br />

(ATC) dispensers and vapour recovery systems<br />

that would impact on the amount of fuel in the<br />

tank. The above image shows the amount of<br />

losses experienced by some of our customers<br />

from when they implemented the real-time<br />

solution that we offer until today.”<br />

i asked what would happen in the unlikely case<br />

that somebody stole all the fuel from a tank,<br />

when for example the site is closed. Not ducking<br />

the question at all Bob answered “ Effective<br />

wetstock management can protect fuel in<br />

instances where fuel is lost very quickly, such<br />

latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

FAIRBANKS – AN INTELLIGENT FUTURE<br />

as a theft directly from the tank as you suggest.<br />

By having a predetermined loss threshold set<br />

for when forecourts are closed retailers can<br />

be alerted to a theft as it is happening. This<br />

detection system is in place to identify theft<br />

at any time. We actually have a recent case<br />

which demonstrates my point precisely.<br />

On Christmas day, at 1:17am, just for the<br />

record, the ibank (Fairbanks’ data collection<br />

and analysis module) installed on site detected<br />

a sudden loss of more than 200 litres on Tank<br />

5 diesel, which triggered the Night Time Loss<br />

alert. Within 15 minutes the alert was sent<br />

to the Fairbanks offices and automatically<br />

forwarded onto the security company covering<br />

the customer’s network of service stations. This<br />

meant that the customer could react to the<br />

situation even though the incident occurred<br />

on a national bank holiday. Without having<br />

a wetstock management system in place the<br />

thieves would have long since fled the site<br />

before the loss was discovered”.<br />

Theft Case Study<br />

The other important area of loss prevention<br />

Bob was keen to identify was in relation to<br />

leaks. in his summary of what was an excellent<br />

presentation he said “ Notwithstanding<br />

potential damage to the environment, the costs<br />

of cleaning up a leak can run into the many<br />

thousands of euros putting most businesses<br />

into serious financial difficulty or even out<br />

of business altogether. A real-time wetstock<br />

system will give you the time and direction<br />

necessary to take action and recover the situation,<br />

24 hours a day 365 days a year. So no<br />

matter when a leak starts you’ll be given the<br />

tools to deal with it in a timely manner”.<br />

Bob will be representing Fairbanks at the upcoming<br />

erpec 13 event in Nice from the 16th<br />

to the 18th of April, 2013 and said he would<br />

be more than happy to offer help and advice to<br />

any retailers who have serious concerns about<br />

this whole subject or perhaps those who just<br />

need a little reassurance.<br />

More details at www.fairbanks.co.uk<br />

17


Georgia awards<br />

tender to LukoIL<br />

News from Russia & Cis<br />

Georgia’s Government has agreed to purchase<br />

motor fuel from Russian firm LukOiL. The<br />

supply tender includes gasoline of the Super,<br />

Premium and EuroDiesel types with a total<br />

volume of 56 million litres. Smaller supply<br />

agreements, with a volume of approximately<br />

5 million litres, have been awarded to Rompetrol<br />

and Wissol. Georgia’s Competition and<br />

State Procurement Agency noted that the<br />

consolidated tender was declared in Georgia<br />

for the first time and that maximum transparency<br />

of the procedure and equal conditions<br />

were provided for all participants.<br />

Gazprom wants 50<br />

stations in Romania<br />

The first Gazprom fuel station on Romanian<br />

soil was opened in Sibiu, on Christmas Eve.<br />

The entire chain of local stations will be under<br />

the management of the Serbian NiS group,<br />

which is controlled by Gazprom. Romania is<br />

the second largest European market on which<br />

Gazprom fuel stations now operate. On December<br />

19 the first Gazprom fuel station was<br />

opened in Serbia. Plans for development on<br />

the retail segment under this brand include<br />

Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the end<br />

of 2013 the Gazprom network of fuel stations<br />

in the Balkans is expected to have reached<br />

100 units. “The development of Gazprom fuel<br />

stations in the Balkans is our strategic objective”,<br />

stated Alexander Dyukov, Chairman of<br />

the Gazprom Neft Board of Directors. “We<br />

aim to expand in Serbia and Romania and<br />

the next step is to enter the Bulgarian market.<br />

i am confident that in the near future the<br />

network of Gazprom fuel stations will spread<br />

through the Balkans and take over leadership<br />

of the market.”<br />

LukoIL considers<br />

expanding to Lebanon<br />

LukOiL may become the first Russian oil<br />

company in Lebanon. LukOiL, operating<br />

in West Africa and Romania, is interested<br />

in winning a government tender to develop<br />

offshore fields in Lebanon. LukOiL’ competition<br />

in the tender includes other international<br />

companies, u.S.-based Chevron and Exxon-<br />

Mobil, France’s TOTAL, China’s CNOOC<br />

and Russia’s Gazprom.<br />

SoCaR to implement major projects<br />

Construction of a new complex processing<br />

oil, gas and petrochemicals in Azerbaijan<br />

is the largest project to be implemented in<br />

the next few years, not only for the State Oil<br />

Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), but for<br />

the whole country. This was recently stated<br />

by head of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev during<br />

a meeting with the president and CEO<br />

of the American company Air Products John<br />

McGlade. According to a statement issued by<br />

SOCAR, Abdullayev spoke about projects<br />

implemented by the State Oil Company in<br />

Turkey, construction of a new shipyard and<br />

the Sumgayit plant for production of nitrogen<br />

fertilisers in Azerbaijan, construction of a<br />

18<br />

LaTEST NEwS, LaTEST EvENTS, RuSSIa NEwS JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

– www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

new oil refinery in Turkey, expansion of the<br />

petrochemical complex Petkim’s port, as well<br />

as a power plant to be built there. “These are<br />

big challenges for SOCAR and its partners in<br />

the next five years”, Abdullayev said. The Air<br />

Products Company has more than 20 years<br />

of experience in manufacturing equipment<br />

for the production of industrial and liquefied<br />

gas for oil refining and petrochemical industry<br />

facilities. The company has more than<br />

40 subsidiaries and its annual sales exceed<br />

$10 billion. SOCAR includes production<br />

association Azneft (companies producing<br />

oil and gas on land and sea) and Production<br />

Association Azerkimya (chemical industry), as<br />

well as production association Azerigas (gas<br />

distribution).The State Oil Company is the<br />

only producer of oil products in the country (it<br />

has two refineries on its assets sheet) and also<br />

owns petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia,<br />

ukraine and Romania. SOCAR possesses<br />

a network of petrol stations in Switzerland<br />

and is the co-owner of the largest Turkish<br />

petrochemical complex Petkim.<br />

Rosneft and Saras sign venture deal<br />

Russian oil giant Rosneft has put pen to<br />

paper on a joint venture agreement with<br />

italy’s Saras, with the focus on developing<br />

the 300 000 barrel-a-day Sarroch facility in<br />

Sardinia. The venture, a 50/50 partnership,<br />

will see the two cooperate on crude oil<br />

processing and the sale of refined products.<br />

The deal comes as more and more European<br />

refiners are being forced to go into business<br />

with producers from outside their regular<br />

sphere of operation. Saras’ compatriot ERG,<br />

which has already sold its stake in a Romebased<br />

venture it engaged in with TOTAL,<br />

has indicated that it may sell its remaining<br />

20 percent stake in the Priolo iSAB facility<br />

to LukOiL.<br />

TATNEFT switches information system<br />

The TATNEFT group has switched its central<br />

logistics management information system to a<br />

new SAP version, the company has confirmed.<br />

The E-Store project has been integrated with<br />

logistics, finance, controlling, budgeting, project<br />

management and TATNEFT’s electronic<br />

trading platform. in addition to updating the<br />

system, the expanded functionality of the SAP<br />

ERP 6.0 version has offered new capabilities,<br />

including a process of managing contracts for<br />

deliveries. Standard user roles have also been<br />

worked out that allow to quickly connect new<br />

employees to the system, as well as assigning<br />

new functions and powers.<br />

Rosneft’s TNK-BP purchase approved<br />

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service has<br />

approved OAO Rosneft’s (ROSN.RS) purchase<br />

of Russian oil producer TNk-BP Holding<br />

(TNBP.RS), clearing the way for the statecontrolled<br />

firm to become the world’s largest<br />

listed crude producer. igor Artemyev, the head<br />

of the Federal Antimonopoly Service said that<br />

Rosneft will be obliged to sell off some gas<br />

stations in regions where the companies will<br />

own more than half of the total. BP will hold<br />

a 19.8 percent stake in Rosneft as part of its<br />

deal to sell out of TNk-BP.


April 16 th to 18 th<br />

Spring 2013<br />

13<br />

Palais De La Méditerranée<br />

Nice, France<br />

www.erpec.com<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM


20<br />

LaTEST NEwS, EvENTS, JobS oNLINE – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM


aLTERNaTiVEfUeL News<br />

Ohio powers up electric vehicle charging stations<br />

Dublin, Ohio has taken upon itself meeting<br />

the recharging needs of environmentally conscious<br />

drivers. The city has installed electric<br />

vehicle charging stations to meet what it calls<br />

a growing interest in alternative fuel vehicles.<br />

The $ 28 400 units are free of charge to the<br />

public. Half the cost of the project is shared<br />

by Columbus-based Clean Fuels Ohio, a statewide<br />

non-profit organization that promotes the<br />

use of clean fuels and energy-efficient vehicles.<br />

The city’s first publicly owned charging station<br />

is part of its overall push for clean energy.<br />

World’s largest companies embrace clean energy<br />

A majority of the world’s largest companies<br />

are not waiting for governments to mandate<br />

renewable energy and lower greenhouse gas<br />

emissions, they are taking it upon themselves<br />

to act first. A new report from investment<br />

and conservation organizations shows that<br />

more than half of the Fortune 100 and<br />

more than two-thirds of the Global 100<br />

have set carbon emissions reduction commitments,<br />

renewable energy commitments<br />

or both. “The global transition to a lower<br />

carbon economy is accelerating due to rising<br />

public concern about climate change”,<br />

states the report. AT&T, DuPont, General<br />

Motors, Google, HP, Sprint and Walmart are<br />

among the corporations that have set their<br />

own renewable energy and greenhouse gas<br />

goals. Despite glacial progress on climate<br />

and energy policy in the u.S. Congress and<br />

at the united Nations climate change talks<br />

that concluded in Qatar 9th December, the<br />

report from Calvert investments, Ceres and<br />

World Wildlife Fund shows that clean energy<br />

practices are becoming standard for some of<br />

the largest and most profitable companies<br />

in the world. The report, “Power Forward:<br />

Why the World’s Largest Companies are<br />

investing in Renewable Energy”, shows<br />

that a majority of Fortune 100 companies<br />

have set a renewable energy commitment,<br />

a greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitment<br />

or both. The trend is even stronger<br />

internationally, as more than two-thirds of<br />

Fortune’s Global 100 have set the same commitments.<br />

The report was prepared by David<br />

Gardiner & Associates with the guidance<br />

of WWF, Ceres and Calvert staff. it was<br />

sourced from analysis of corporate public<br />

disclosures as well as two dozen interviews<br />

with Fortune and Global 100 executives.<br />

“When a majority of the world’s largest<br />

companies are investing in clean energy, you<br />

can truly see its value”, said Mindy Lubber,<br />

President of Ceres, a coalition of investors,<br />

companies and public interest groups. Ceres<br />

also directs the investor Network on Climate<br />

Risk, 100 institutional investors with assets<br />

totaling more than $ 10 trillion. “it speaks<br />

volumes that almost all of these companies<br />

set their renewable energy and greenhouse<br />

gas goals after the economic downturn, precisely<br />

because they understand the economic<br />

benefits of efficiency and renewable energy”,<br />

said Lubber. “We encourage lawmakers to<br />

support policies that help companies meet<br />

and strengthen their clean energy goals.”<br />

The report shows that 96 companies from<br />

the combined 173 companies in the Fortune<br />

100 and Global 100 have set greenhouse<br />

gas reduction goals – 56 percent. Of those,<br />

23 companies have set specific goals for<br />

renewable energy use, with others using<br />

renewable energy to meet their greenhouse<br />

gas goals. Many companies are shifting from<br />

purchasing short-term, temporary Renewable<br />

Energy Credits to longer-term investment<br />

strategies like Power Purchase Agreements<br />

and on-site projects, indicating a long-term<br />

commitment to renewable energy and reaping<br />

the benefits of reduced price volatility,<br />

according to the report. “The companies that<br />

are boldly setting either greenhouse gas or<br />

renewable energy goals and making progress<br />

on those commitments are demonstrating<br />

the business case and real leadership on<br />

climate change”, said Marty Spitzer, Director<br />

of u.S. Climate Policy with WWF, the<br />

global conservation organization. “And, in<br />

the process”, said Spitzer, “these companies<br />

are changing the game – driving significant<br />

renewable energy investment globally and<br />

pressing for the right policy and market<br />

conditions that will allow companies to do<br />

even more.”<br />

NEwS<br />

Neste Oil joins aviation<br />

bio-fuel initiative<br />

Finnish renewable fuel developer Neste Oil<br />

will join hands with the European union<br />

(Eu)-backed ‘initiative Towards Sustainable<br />

kerosene for Aviation’ (iTAkA) project to<br />

promote the use of sustainable bio-fuels in<br />

aviation. A consortium of companies are<br />

currently taking part in the 36-month iTAkA<br />

project, funded through an Eu grant of<br />

10 million under the Eu Seventh Framework<br />

Programme for Research and Development<br />

(2007–2013). Neste Oil will produce 4 000 tons<br />

of NExBTL renewable aviation fuel, produced<br />

from Spanish camelina oil and used cooking<br />

oil, for the project.<br />

H2 mobility initiative<br />

in Germany<br />

Building up a refuelling station network for<br />

fuel cell electric vehicles is taking on a concrete<br />

form. The current partners in the H2<br />

Mobility initiative (Air Liquide, Daimler,<br />

Linde, OMV, Shell and TOTAL) are working<br />

on implementing a business model to build<br />

up a nation-wide hydrogen refuelling station<br />

network in Germany. The objective of this<br />

initiative is to prepare for the planned series<br />

launch of fuel cell electric vehicles and build<br />

up a hydrogen station network infrastructure.<br />

As well as the six partners, seven associated<br />

partners from the automotive industry (BMW,<br />

Honda, Hyundai, intelligent Energy, Nissan,<br />

Toyota and Volkswagen) as well as the National<br />

Organization of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell<br />

Technology (NOW) as interface to Germany’s<br />

federal government are also involved.<br />

Tesla adds to Ev<br />

supercharger network<br />

Tesla has expanded its network of super charg -<br />

ers to the East Coast of the uS. The Tesla<br />

Model S charging stations, which can add 150<br />

miles of range to a car in only 30 minutes, have<br />

been established Milford, Connecticut and<br />

Newark, Delaware. Tesla’s original network<br />

of six charging stations stretched from Los<br />

Angeles to northern California. The company<br />

plans to have 100 new Superchargers across<br />

North America by 2015.<br />

latest LaTEST news, aLTERNaTIvE events, FuEL jobs NEwS online – www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

21


Couche-Tard acquires<br />

29 stores<br />

All stores offer motor fuel branded Phillips 66.<br />

They would eventually be rebranded under<br />

the Circle k brand and continue to offer<br />

motor fuel under Phillips 66. Couche-Tard’s<br />

Midwest division would operate 28 of them,<br />

the other operated by the Southwest division.<br />

Pursuant to this transaction, Couche-Tard<br />

would buy the land and buildings for 25<br />

locations and would assume or enter into<br />

leases for the remaining locations.<br />

Murphy oil expands<br />

through wal-Mart<br />

Murphy Oil Corp has announced that its<br />

wholly-owned subsidiary, Murphy Oil uSA,<br />

inc., has entered into an agreement with<br />

Wal-Mart Stores, inc. to provide access to<br />

over 200 new fuel service stations within<br />

its core market area covering the Midwest<br />

and Southeast united States. under the<br />

terms of the agreement, Murphy uSA will<br />

have the opportunity to build over 200 new<br />

fuel service stations at existing Walmart<br />

supercentres. The construction program<br />

is expected to be completed over the next<br />

three years.<br />

7-Eleven acquires<br />

143 sites<br />

7-Eleven has made a significant acquisition<br />

of 143 sites in south Texas. from C. L.<br />

Thomas. The, transaction adds to a previous<br />

acquisition of 25 convenience stores in the<br />

state from Tetco and includes fuel distribution<br />

to approximately 150 dealer-operated<br />

fuel service stations. The retail sites are<br />

branded as Speedy Stop and Tigermarket.<br />

&-Eleven plans to interview and offer positions<br />

to qualified employees in the stores<br />

and rebrand a significant number of locations<br />

during 2013.<br />

usa News<br />

New fuel distribution insurance program<br />

National interstate insurance Company is<br />

planning to offer a new fuel distribution insurance<br />

program, in an effort to strengthen its<br />

long-standing captive fuel distribution business.<br />

Effective since January, the new program<br />

involves residential propane and fuel dealers<br />

aTM legislation becomes law<br />

President Obama has signed into law NACSsupported<br />

legislation that eliminates a regulatory<br />

provision – one that has become the<br />

source of frivolous lawsuits aimed at operators<br />

of ATMs. Regulations required ATM opera -<br />

tors to post both a notice of a transaction<br />

fee on or near the ATM and provide an onscreen<br />

notice of the fee during the transaction.<br />

under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, a<br />

consumer who uses an ATM which does not<br />

have a notice of a transaction fee posted and<br />

is charged a fee, can bring an action against<br />

22<br />

LaTEST NEwS, LaTEST EvENTS, uSa NEwS JobS – oNLINE www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

– www.PETRoLPLaza.CoM<br />

with a commitment to safety and strong risk<br />

man agement practises. Coverage options in -<br />

clude auto liability, general liability, auto physical<br />

damage, workers’ compensation, as well<br />

as property and excess umbrella, with crime<br />

and inland marine coverage upon request.<br />

the ATM operator and recover statutory<br />

damages between uS $ 100 and uS $ 1 000<br />

for each transaction – regardless of whether<br />

the consumer suffered any actual injury.<br />

Representative Blaine Luetkmeyer (R-MO)<br />

introduced legislation to eliminate this redundant<br />

requirement when he learned that one<br />

individual in Missouri had successfully filed<br />

suit against five ATM operators and secured<br />

more than uS $ 100 000 in settlements. He<br />

referred to the legislation as a “commonsense<br />

fix” to crack down on nuisance lawsuits.<br />

Kwik Trip expands CNG station network in USA<br />

La Crosse-based kwik Trip has began selling<br />

compressed natural gas at its fueling station<br />

in Minnesota City, uSA. kwik Trip now has<br />

nine stations across Wisconsin, iowa and<br />

Minnesota that sell compressed natural gas<br />

and it intends to open many more, said Joel<br />

Hirschboeck, the company’s superintendent<br />

of alternative fuel. CNG emissions are about<br />

90 percent lower than diesel, making the fuel<br />

especially attractive to businesses that have<br />

truck fleets. The national trade organization<br />

NGVAmerica estimates CNG fuel consumption<br />

has grown by about 15 percent a year<br />

since 2006.<br />

Source upgrade their dispensing applications<br />

Source North America Corporation, a<br />

major fuelling equipment distributor in North<br />

America, is now assembling curb pump<br />

dispensing hoses as per the requirements<br />

of the uL 330 application process that took<br />

effect on 1st January 2013 which specify<br />

the use of approved flammable liquid hose<br />

assemblies, consisting of flexible hose and<br />

fittings suitable for attachment to flammable<br />

liquid dispensing equipment. Curb pump<br />

hoses have been specifically designed for<br />

conventional dispensing applications that<br />

require a hard-wall construction for full flow<br />

and no internal spring guards, making them<br />

ideal for use with gasoline, diesel, ethanol up<br />

to E15 and biodiesel up to B20.<br />

Jones & Frank acquires Reliable Oil Equipment<br />

Jones & Frank has acquired the assets of Reliable<br />

Oil Equipment, a distributor and service<br />

provider headquartered in Ohio. The combined<br />

organisation will have 22 branch offices, three<br />

distribution centres and personnel in 20 states.<br />

After completion of the merger, Jones & Frank<br />

will employ over 175 certified technicians strategically<br />

located to deliver a wide array of equipment<br />

and services. “We are very excited about this<br />

acquisition and the depth that the strong team<br />

at Reliable adds to our business. The blending<br />

of key resources from both organizations will<br />

translate into increased efficiencies to better<br />

serve our customer”, said Jones & Frank CEO<br />

Sterling Baker. “The acquisition also adds to<br />

our capacity and geographic presence to better<br />

service the single store operator or the national<br />

retailer with multiple locations.”


www.alucobond.com<br />

www.bennettpump.com<br />

LED under Canopy Illumination Display<br />

www.beverinnovations.com<br />

www.brugg.de<br />

www.cree.com<br />

www.plxpipe.com<br />

www.elaflex.de<br />

www.eurotank.eu.com<br />

www.gilbarco.eu<br />

www.hectronic.com<br />

Inventory Control Management<br />

Dispensing Systems<br />

www.tecalemit.de<br />

www.iisltd.com<br />

www.fuelspricing.com<br />

www.integration.co.nz<br />

The kärcher car wash system.<br />

www.kaercher.com<br />

www.kpsystem.com<br />

www.kubald.com<br />

www.leightonobrien.com<br />

www.mepsan.com.tr<br />

www.mueller-offenburg.de<br />

www.novyc.com<br />

Pipe and fitting systems<br />

www.nupigeco.com<br />

Integrated Coating & Monitoring Systems<br />

www.ono-oil.com<br />

www.petrotec.eu<br />

latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com<br />

WEBSITES AND LOGOS – SUPPORTING ERPECNEWS<br />

®<br />

www.psdcodax.com<br />

www.pwm.com<br />

www.scheidt-bachmann.com<br />

Leak Prevention<br />

www.sgb.de<br />

www.sloanled.com<br />

www.tanknology.com<br />

In Innovation, In Reliable Services<br />

www.tatsuno.co.jp/english/<br />

www.tokheim.com<br />

www.torex.com<br />

Worldwide producer vehicle washing equipment<br />

www.washtec.de<br />

www.wayne.com<br />

*'<br />

www.wincor-nixdorf.com<br />

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

23

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!