EUROPEAN EDITION - ErpecNews

an international retail petroleum news digest 

MOL looking to expand network 

Hungarian oil firm Mol has said that it 

intends to purchase more fuel service stations 

in the Czech Republic after expanding its 

network in the country recently by taking over 

Pap oil and Bohemia Realty, both of which 

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operate stations under the Pap oil brand. 

Mol plans to double the amount of stations 

under its control over the next few years. Pap 

oil controlled only 4 percent of the country’s 

retail market share before the takeover. The 

new entity created via the merger will be 

competing against Benzia, oMV, Cepro or 

Shell with a higher market share. The investment 

is in line with Mol Group’s strategy to 

improve their presence and increase market 

share in the supply radius of their refineries 

and increase further the synergies within the 

downstream segment. 

French agriculture minister wants biofuels pause 

French Agriculture Minister Stephane le Foll 

has said that the country should reconsider plans 

to develop biofuels, according to local media 

reports. At a cabinet meeting, the Minister 

said that plans to incorporate biofuels into the 

regular supply “should be put up for discussion 

even though it could result in large quantities 

BP wants a larger stake in Rosneft 

BP has offered to acquire a bigger stake in 

Rosneft if it can sell its interests in a private 

joint venture the president of Rosneft has 

said. Such a move would make BP the largest 

single outside investor in Rosneft. Recently 

BP and Rosneft executives met with Mr. 

Putin as BP continues to extricate itself from 

the TNK-BP partnership. Such a deal will 

of agricultural products being diverted from 

food use”. le Foll’s reported plans call for a 

7 percent cap on incorporating first generation 

biofuels into traditional fuel to contain 

the rising price of feedstock. Since E10 was 

introduced in France three years ago, its market 

share has grown to 23.5 percent of total fuels. 

be extraordinarily important for BP, which 

pumps about a quarter of its global oil output 

from Russia. The precise structure of any 

deal is still unclear as BP is also negotiating 

the sale of its stake in the venture to its 

oligarch partners, and must continue these 

talks until mid-october under the terms of 

its shareholder agreement in TNK-BP. 

Issue No 37 | October 2012 

EUROPEAN EDITION 

LukOIL planning to 

modernise network 

luKoil’s ukrainian arm has said that it 

intends to upgrade its fuel network and 

open new stations as part of a $ 100 million 

investment aimed at modernising its 

business. The announcement comes in 

addition to a plan announced this summer 

that will see the company convert 

all of its stations to one design façade. 

luKoil-ukraine, which controls around 

8 percent of the country’s fuel service 

market, plans to totally renovate 28 of its 

fuel service stations by the end of this year, 

and a further 40 next year, the company’s 

general director Andriy Havrylets said. At 

least five new stations will be built in 2013. 

Italy’s CDP wants to 

sell stake in ENI 

italy’s state fund, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti 

SpA, is in talks with investment banks to 

sell a 3.4 percent stake in ENi SpA, CDP 

is selling the stake in the country’s biggest 

energy group, worth about 2 billion euros 

($ 2.51 billion), to raise money to pay for its 

3.52 billion euros purchase of a 30 percent 

share in Snam SpA from ENi. ENi has 

been ordered by the government to sell 

52 percent of Snam to CDP and other 

investors as part of the liberalization of 

the energy market. Snam is the country’s 

biggest gas grid, storage and distribution 

company by volume. 

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uk independent fuel retailers losing out 

Government taxes and Supermarket prices are 

said to be having an affect on Britain’s small 

fuel station owners, with claims that one a day 

is going out of business. Sainsbury’s, Tesco, 

Asda and Morrisons have this year embarked 

on a campaign to attract hard-hit consumers 

and the cost of fuel has been central to their 

campaign. Morrisons offer loyalty points on its 

fuel card while Asda has a price comparison 

app for mobile phones to convince shoppers 

it has the cheapest fuel. Both Sainsbury’s 

and Tesco have offered money off to shoppers. 

Sainsbury’s has offered 10 p off a litre 

in return for a minimum spend in its shops. 

Now the Retail Motor industry Federation is 

hoping for a major review by the office of Fair 

Trading (oFT) into fuel prices at the pump, 

something for which it has been lobbying for 

months. There are now about 8 000 small 

petrol retailers compared with 21 000 two 

decades ago and 40 000 in 1966. The RMi 

predicts that in five years there will be only 

1 200 supermarket and major oil company fuel 

stations left. it seems the oFT has certainly 

taken on board some of these concerns. But 

latest news, events, jobs online – www.PetrolPlaza.com 

NEws – EuROPE 

many have also blamed the Government and 

hikes in fuel tax for soaring prices. it takes 

60 percent of every litre of petrol in tax – the 

highest rate in Europe. luxemburg is the least 

taxed at just 47 p a litre. The oFT inquiry 

comes at a time when the supermarkets have 

proved particularly effective at building up a 

huge stake in the £ 32 billion fuel market. And 

with the recession dragging on, households 

are keen to save even one or two pence a litre, 

particularly those families whose livelihoods 

depend on the use of a car. Supermarkets 

last year accounted for 45 percent of total 

fuel sales from just 1 316 sites compared with 

37.4 percent in 2010 according to the Energy 

institute and market analyst Experian Catalyst. 

in this period, Tesco, which has 493 outlets, 

has consolidated its position as the leading 

fuel retailer, with 15.5 percent of a market in 

which petrol sales are falling and diesel demand 

growing. According to a web price comparison 

site which collects its information from drivers 

using fuel cards, there is huge regional variance 

of fuel prices as well as differences between 

stations run by the same firm. 

DCC approved for ‘tOtaL’ takeover 

Sales, marketing and distribution group DCC 

has been given the go ahead by the Competition 

Commission to proceed with the purchase of 

ToTAl’s uK distribution assets. “We welcome 

the Competition Commission investigation 

into DCC’s acquisition of former ToTAl oil 

distribution business and its conclusion that 

the acquisition will not result in a substantial 

lessening of competition in the oil market in 

Britain”, said Tommy Breen, Chief Executive 

at DCC. “We believe the findings of the final 

report are very positive for the future growth 

and development of DCC’s oil distribution 

business and, in particular, our strategy to 

further increase the scale of our business in 

Britain”, he added. 

INa eyes OMv petrol stations in Croatia 

Hungarian fuels group Mol may be forced to 

sell its chain of Tifon gas stations in Croatia 

to comply with competition law. The Zagrebbased 

company will wait for the decision of 

the competition regulator. on September 5, 

iNA submitted a binding offer for oMV’s gas 

stations in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

oMV, central Europe’s biggest oil company, 

has 63 stations in Croatia and 28 in Bosnia. 

Mol holds a 47.47 percent stake in iNA, while 

the government owns 44.84 percent. oMV 

has announced officially that there are four 

competitors vying for its network of filling 

stations: Croatia’s iNA, Russia’s Zarubezhneft, 

an Arab investment fund and an unnamed 

bidder. The price is around 100 million euros. 

Esso upgrades fuel to improve performance 

Esso uK has updated its petrol and diesel 

fuels with enhanced additives that, the 

company said, can help provide improved 

engine responsiveness and clean vital engine 

parts when compared to standard fuels. The 

majority of Esso’s 900-strong network of fuel 

service stations will now carry the fuels, 

which are designed to improve performance 

by removing harmful deposits from petrol 

intake valves and diesel fuel injectors. “Esso 

is committed to continuous improvement to 

enhance the quality of our fuels, addressing 

evolving engine technology and consumer 

needs”, Karen Dickens, uK and ireland 

Fuels Marketing Director, said. “We are 

proud of our latest generation of Esso energy 

fuels which can help improve fuel economy 

and engine responsiveness, protect against 

engine corrosion and clean vital engine 

parts.” To promote the new fuels, Esso 

uK has established a dedicated website at 

www.fuelprogress.com. it also plans a major 

promotional campaign including advertising 

and PoS materials. 

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4 

Pumps dispense 

wrong amount of fuel 

in ireland roughly 16 percent of pumps 

are dispensing the wrong amount fuel, a 

new study commissioned by the AA has 

discovered. The survey, conducted at 170 

fuel service stations throughout the country, 

measured gauges for erroneous readings. 

The price at one-sixth of pumps were out 

by 1 percent or more, with the acceptable 

legal limit for discrepancies set at 0.5 percent 

above or below the stated amount. At 

current prices a 1 percent mistake over 

the charge and amount displayed on the 

gauge could cost a motorist up to 1 euro 

every time they fill up. in 10 individual 

cases the amount charged was 2 percent 

wide of the mark. The AA confirmed in 

its report that all of the service stations 

that underwent testing complied fully 

with the rules of the study. it said that 

no evidence was found of price-fixing or 

tampering, and that most operators were 

surprised that their gauges could be wide 

of the mark. 

Move to save French 

rural stations 

The French NAA (National Federation 

of Crafts Auto) met with the Ministry of 

Economy to discuss the establishment of 

a plan that ensures the future survival of 

rural fuel stations, which are in danger of 

closure even though they provide a vital 

service in the rural distribution of fuels. 

60 percent of people live in towns of less 

than 2 000 inhabitants, served mostly by 

small stations employing a total of 20 000 

people. The FNAA has suggested there 

is an immediate need to establish these 

stations as public utilities and invest 35 

million Euros over three years. 

Bulgarian watchdog 

clears LukOIL 

Bulgaria’s Commission on the Protection 

of Competition (CPC) said that the local 

unit of Russian oil company luKoil had 

not taken illegal advantage of its dominant 

position on the fuel retail market. on the 

topic of a price-fixing cartel by the four 

largest retailers in the country, the watchdog 

said that it approved a proposal by the 

companies that would fix competition issues. 

CPC began an official investigation 

into allegations of price-fixing in october 

2011, after completing a market analysis 

report commissioned in March 2011, 

when widespread protests against rising 

fuel prices in the country drew thousands 

of motorists. 

shell introduces premium shell v-Power Nitro+ 

Shell fuel stations in the Czech republic 

have started to offer new premium Shell 

V-Power Nitro+ for petrol and diesel engines. 

it is the latest generation of fuels to be 

created thanks to the long-term technical 

partnership with Ferrari team in Grand Prix 

racing. Their uniqueness lies in immediate 

Repsol offer fast payment systems 

“la Caixa” and Repsol are committed to extending 

the new contactless payment systems to new 

sectors. Repsol has installed PiN pads with this 

new technology in 140 service stations across 

Barcelona and the Balearic islands, where “la 

Caixa” has already issued contactless cards to its 

customers. Repsol is the first iBEX35 company 

to offer such a particularly attractive system for 

No competition hurts Greece 

lack of competition in Greece’s oil-refining 

industry is costing consumers there more than 

$ 1 billion a year, according to a draft internal 

report by the international Monetary Fund, 

(iMF). one reason, according to the iMF and 

other analysts, is a combination of dominant 

companies and excessive regulation that stifles 

competitors. As an example, the report outlined 

a chain of obstacles it says effectively prevent 

independent fuel stations from buying fuel 

abroad. All importers must have facilities to 

hold 60 days of inventory, something beyond 

LatEst NEws, EvENts, jOBs ONLINE – www.PEtROLPLaza.COM 

effects on engine performance. While Shell 

FuelSave was developed to help customers 

conserve fuel, Shell V-Power Nitro+ helps to 

fully realize the engines full potential. The 

Czech Republic is one of the first countries 

in the world where these fuels are replacing 

existing products. 

their busy fuel station network, which welcomes 

over one million customers every day. Contactless 

technology is considered to be the fastest 

method of payment available, converting it into 

an efficient alternative to cash. TSecurity is fully 

guaranteed and includes all the advantages of 

EMV technology (the current chip), as well 

as the CaixaProtect guarantee, with which “la 

Caixa” protects its customers from the potential 

fraudulent use of any of its electronic payment 

methods (cards, internet or mobile banking). 

in Spain, Repsol markets a wide range of products 

across its 3 600 service stations; with over 

40 percent of the market share, it is the country’s 

leading fuel retailer in this area. 

the capability of many smaller businesses. And 

fuel can only be transported in large tractortrailer 

tankers, though gas stations aren’t 

permitted to own vehicles that large. “This 

makes it impossible for independent gas stations 

to transport fuel into Greece”, the report 

says. Greece’s new conservative-led coalition 

government, voted into office in June, says 

it wants to fix that and is moving to combat 

anticompetitive practices in the marketplace. 

“A better-functioning fuels market is something 

we desire”, said a Government Spokesman. 

World’s most carbon efficient energy company 

Spanish oil giant Repsol has been named 

as the world’s most carbon efficient energy 

company in the Climate Disclosure leadership 

index, the most renowned index in the 

energy industry. 2012 is the third time in the 

last five years the company has toped the 

list, which surveys 50 of the world’s largest 

multinational energy companies, gauging their 

impact on the environment. “Repsol is the oil 

and gas company most often included in the 

CDli since 2006. The CDli is drawn up from 

the Carbon Disclosure Project questionnaire 

completed by companies which make up the 

FTSE Global Equity index Series”, said the 

company in a statement. Repsol said that the 

elements of the survey on which it won recognition 

include its energy efficiency and the 

creation of a greenhouse gas emission inventory. 

smart cameras greatly reduce fuel thefts 

in the uK Automatic Number Plate Recognition 

(ANPR) cameras are one of the 

tools used to tackle the offence of motorists 

driving off without paying for fuel. Figures 

obtained show “drive off” incidents fell in 

one county of England, from 1 342 in 2010/11 

to 759 in 2011/12. The 43 percent drop were 

in other places even higher with thefts falling 

54 percent. The information of any car 

who fails to pay is fed into a central system 

which alerts other fuel stations and the 

police. ANPR cameras, as they are known 

in the uK, record number plates and ‘flag 

up’ suspicious or stolen plates.


5


6 


Fuel consumption plummets in Portugal 

Research recently published has revealed 

that motorists are travelling less frequently 

and are re-fuelling with smaller amounts. 

The news comes as fuel prices in Portugal 

reach record highs, with diesel breaking 

the 1.50 euros barrier for the first time 

despite a drop in crude market prices. The 

Portuguese Automobile Club (ACP) has 

lashed out at the Government’s impotence 

in alleviating the spiralling cost of fuel in 

Portugal, especially as fuel increases have 

now become a weekly occurrence. “once 

again, we are being told that the weaker euro 

and international conflicts are to blame”, 

the ACP said in a statement, adding that 

the fuel sector in Portugal was “completely 

deregulated” which it said was causing serious 

harm to the nation’s ailing economy. 

“When fuel rises, so does everything else”, 

the association explained. 

Floating refuelling station in Croatia 

latvian manufacturing company Pildne has 

expanded their activities in Europe through 

launching another floating refuelling station in 

Marina Kastela, Croatia. The station is built 

under supervision of lloyd’s Register and 

Croatian Register of Shipping, corresponding 

to all the Eu regulations. PilDNE stations 

ensure maximum efficiency of investments, 

are economic and easy in operation. A highly 

thought-through system of environmental 

protection minimizes the correlation between 

the human factor, operating conditions and 

lifetime of the installation. in the nearest 

future Pildne is planning to launch two more 

stations in Croatia. 

sOCaR seeking to acquire in turkey 

After an analysis of the retail fuel market in 

Turkey, The State oil Company of Azerbaijan 

(SoCAR) plans to create a network of fuel 

stations across the country through acquisition. 

According to Turkish media, SoCAR is nego- 

E. Leclerc stores to sell fuel at cost 

E. leclerc, the French supermarket chain, 

is to sell fuel at cost adding to the government’s 

promised consumer tax rebate, said 

Chairman Michel-Edouard leclerc. “Prices 

will probably fall 2 or 3 cents a litre” at all 

of the company’s retail stations in France 

because of the measures, leclerc said “We 

won’t be making any profit.” French Finance 

tiating the acquisition of BP’s retail network 

in the country to buy 599 fuel stations which 

would give SoCAR a 9.8 percent share of the 

Turkish retail market, making it the fourthlargest 

owner of fuel stations in the country. 

Minister Pierre Moscovici has unveiled the 

government’s plan, which will reduce prices 

by a couple of cents a litre. E. leclerc has 546 

gas stations in France, holding 12 percent of 

the retail fuel market and 7 percent of the 

diesel market. The reduction in the fuel tax 

rate will be “modest and temporary” while the 

government devises a system to regulate prices. 

austria’s fuel price calculator success 

in its first year the fuel price calculator has 

had more than 5.6 million hits, an average of 

15 000 to 20 000 a day at the website, Austria’s 

Economic Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner has 

said. The website spritpreisrechner, which is 

managed by regulating authorities E Control, 

has more than 77 percent of prices communicated 

directly via an automated data link 

between fuel station chains. 20 percent are 

added via the internet and three percent of 

the prices are communicated via text message. 

in total 3 064 filling stations report on 

diesel prices and 2 769 report on petrol prices. 

According to statistics the calculator is used by 

36 percent of Austrians, a further 21 percent 

say they will use it in the future. 

One billion dollar investment in Romania 

ExxonMobil international limited and 

oMV Petrom will invest up to one billion 

dollars in Romania, premier Victor Ponta 

has announced. The leadership of the two 

companies met recently with the premier and 

with president Traian Basescu. The premier 

also mentioned another investment of 500 

million euro by Petrom. 



Benzina opens 50th 

stop Cafe site 

in the Czech Republik Benzina opened 

it’s fiftieth ‘Stop Café’ and by the end 

of the year aims to have 88 fast-food 

restaurants sites. Benzina is also trying 

to implement other solutions that aim to 

improve customer service and enhance 

environmental protection. The ‘fast food’ 

stops idea was implemented following a 

study of the success of similar sites operating 

in in neighbouring Poland, where 

PKN orlen and Star combine to provide 

498 restaurants and 236 Stop cafés. 

statoil sells LPG operation 

in scandinavia 

Statoil Fuel & Retail ASA a wholly-owned 

subsidiary of Alimentation Couche-Tard 

inc., announced the sale of its business 

supplying liquefied petroleum gas (lPG) 

to industrial and commercial customers 

in Norway and Sweden to DCC Energy. 

The transaction is expected to complete 

in late 2012/early 2013. The net tangible 

fixed assets of Statoil Fuel & Retail 

lPG at completion together with the 

net working capital investment required 

are expected to amount to approximately 

11 million. 

uk watchdog looks 

at fuel pricing 

Britain’s consumer affairs watchdog is 

looking into fuel pricing in a sign that 

authorities are becoming increasingly 

worried about near record high fuel costs 

in a country grappling with economic 

recession. The office of Fair Trading 

(oFT) has said it is launching a “factfinding 

exercise”, seeking information 

from industry and consumer groups on 

whether prices paid at the pump were a 

fair reflection of underlying costs. 

ENI plans bio-fuels 

refinery 

ENi SpA plans to convert its Venice 

refinery into a biofuels facility by 2014 

which involves an investment of about 

100 million euros ($ 130 million), the 

Rome-based company said in a statement. 

ENi said it will be the first conversion of 

a conventional refinery into a “bio” refinery. 

Conversion of the plant will begin 

in the second quarter of 2013 and finish 

by the end of the year, allowing biofuels 

production to start from 1st January 2014. 

New facilities to be constructed will be 

completed in the first half of 2015. 

7

NEws – MIDDLE East, aFRICa & asIa 

8 

Petronas sells thailand 

assets to susco 

Susco Plc, a local oil retailer, has acquired 

the assets of Malaysia-based Petronas Retail 

(Thailand) Co, which has 100 petrol 

stations in Thailand. Susco’s managing 

director Chairit Simaroj declined to reveal 

the value of the deal, but confirmed that 

the company is ready for the acquisition, 

with cash on hand and loans from banks. 

The transaction is expected to be finalised 

in November. The company believed the 

purchase will complement its business 

expansion plan as the 100 Petronas outlets 

are mostly in residential areas of greater 

Bangkok while Susco’s existing 144 stations 

are situated mainly on highways. Susco plans 

to allocate around 50 million baht a year 

to rebrand the Petronas stations to Susco, 

starting early next year. Petronas entered 

the Thai market in 2005 by acquiring assets 

from Kuwait oil, whose brand is Q8. 

Ghana new fuel 

storage facility 

The city of Tema is set to host a new fuel 

storage facility after Stanbic Bank Ghana 

and Fuel Trade limited agreed a $ 21 million 

deal to build fuel storage tanks to 

facilitate importation. The five-year loan 

agreement also includes a $ 75 million to 

allow Fuel Trade to import fuel products 

into the country. The 80 000-metric ton 

facility will allow Fuel Trade to take a leading 

position in the fuel storage market. it 

also brings the company into compliance 

with new regulations from the National 

Petroleum Authority (NPA), which has 

ordered that bulk distribution companies 

must maintain long term access to storage 

facilities or own their own. 

Investors interested 

in Nigeria 

South African investors are interested in 

acquiring stakes in elements of Nigeria’s 

petroleum industry, said the leader of a team 

of investors visiting the country to survey 

potential opportunities. Stephan Mcburger 

and his team are prepared to assist companies 

in the Nigeria with issues presented by new 

technologies and a lack of workers, which he 

says will allow them to work to their potential. 

Much of the investment will be made 

in upgrading the country’s aging pipelines. 

The Nigerian oil industry is set to become 

a more welcoming place for investors like 

Mcburger once the new Petroleum industry 

Bill is signed into law, said Peter Nmandu, 

head of corporate services at the Nigerian 

National Petroleum Corporation. 

Omanoil open fuel & convenience stores 

oman oil Marketing Company (omanoil) will 

open five new fuel stations and nine Ahlain 

convenience stores across the sultanate in 

2012. “our expansion strategy is in tandem 

with the country’s infrastructure development 

and population growth, offering a one-stop- 


shopping experience and quality products 

which are underpinned by world-class service”, 

said Hussain bin Jama al ishaqi, omanoil’s 

general manager of retail. “We aim to maintain 

excellent and convenient re-fuelling at our 

fuel stations as loyal friends on the road to 

motorists and local communities.” He added, 

“investing in strategic locations across oman 

reinforces the nation’s long-term development 

ambitions, while closing the retail network gap 

allows omanoil to better serve its customers 

in all corners of the country.” omanoil now 

has 137 filling stations, 82 Ahlain convenience 

stores and 14 car wash facilities. 

australian police want pre-pay fuel system 

The head of Victoria’s police force has said that 

he plans to bring some of Melbourne’s top fuel 

service station operators to the table in a bid 

to introduce pre-pay petrol pumps in the city. 

Nearly 6 000 motorists drive off without paying 

for petrol every year in Melbourne, costing 

the operators hundreds of thousands of dollars 

and taking up invaluable hours of police time. 

Despite the benefits that a pre-pay system has 

to offer, some retailers in the city are against 

the plans, with 200 independent retailers 

operating under the Victorian Automobile 

Chamber of Commerce umbrella organisation 

among the most vocal. “our members have 

been told by their customers that pre-pay is 

inconvenient and that they, the customers, do 

not want it”, said David Purchase, Executive 

Director at the VACC. 

Assam refinery eyes outside markets 

in india the Assam Refinery is planning to 

explore the possibility of selling its products 

in nearby countries such as Bhutan and 

Myanmar. The refinery’s location in close 

proximity to countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan 

and Myanmar presents another opportunity 

of natural markets for its products. The 

company’s budget includes funds for a major 

expansion plan at the refinery and is also 

considering diversification into sectors such as 

power generation, pipelines, exploration and 

production. There are plans for expansion of 

refining capacity together with the option of 

sourcing and transporting crude oil through 

pipelines. The refinery processed its highestever 

quantity of crude oil, with a 25.6 percent 

increase in volume, and reported sales growth 

of 27.7 percent. 

aDNOC Distribution adopts Oracle Exadata Database 

ADNoC Distribution has announced the 

deployment of the oracle Exadata Database 

Machine X 2-2 to optimise performance and 

overall quality of service across the business. 

The company said that the move is part of its 

technology road map, and would help prepare 

for expansion in international markets. The 

oracle Exadata Database Machine X 2-2 offers 

a complete package of software, servers and 

storage that, makers say, offers the ability to 

run the largest and most important database 

applications up to ten times faster or more. 

According to ADNoC, deploying the system 

has complemented ADNoC Distribution’s 

existing solutions and has helped the company 

achieve extreme performance and scalability 

for all the subsidiary’s database applications 

including online Transaction Processing 

(olTP), and olAP, Data Warehousing (DW) 

and consolidation of mixed workloads. 

Sinopec sales increase in first 6 months 

Chinese state owned fuel giant Sinopec has 

said that total sales from its marketing and 

distribution segment increased in the first half 

of the year after it adjusted its strategies to fit 

the changing market in which it operates. The 

company said its sales to the end of June came 

in at an increase of 2.8 percent on the same 

time last year. Sinopec said in its statement 

that it expects demand for its products to 

increase in the second half of the year, after 

the Chinese government to passed a number 

of reform bills aimed at driving infrastructure 

and spending on projects. it said that once 

these measures are signed into law, the company 

would scale up its operations, but did 

not provide any detail on what that entailed.

sri Lanka fuel price regulation 

The pricing and quality of fuel is set to come 

under Government scrutiny as petroleum 

products are brought under Sri lanka’s 

Public utilities Commission (PuC) from 

2013, according to officials. Petroleum Ministry 

Secretary R H S Samaratunga said that 

laws giving the agency oversight of the fuel 

market have been drafted and referred to the 

Government’s Attorney General for approval. 

PuC Chairman Jayatissa de Costa said that 

uganda raises Oil reserves 

uganda raised estimated oil reserves by 40 

percent to 3.5 billion barrels after two new 

discoveries, according to Ernest Rubondo, 

the commissioner for petroleum exploration 

and production. The increase from 2.5 billion 

barrels follows appraisal work at the two 

Gull opens 50th retail site 

Gull Petroleum, New Zealand, has opened 

its 50th petrol station establishing the family- 

owned fuel retailer as a key player in the petroleum 

market. in addition to Gull’s competitive 

fuel prices, Gull’s biofuel range has become a 

key point of difference for the business. Gull 

Diesel Max, Gull Regular Plus and Gull Force 

10, New Zealand’s first biofuel (a 10 percent 

ethanol mixed with premium gasoline giving 

higher octane and cleaner performance), 

has enabled Gull to lead the competition in 

alternative fuels and help motorists reduce 

Aramco JV refinery on schedule 

Saudi Aramco’s Chief Executive and President 

has said that its latest refinery, a joint venture 

with French major ToTAl, is progressing 

ac cording to schedule. “The project is progressing 

as planned and the start up will be 

in 2013”, said Fawwaz Nawwab. The 400 000 

barrel per day facility is currently in the pre- 

the agency could begin regulating within the 

first quarter of the new year if the necessary 

legislation passes parliament in time. Director 

General Damitha Kumarasinghe, meanwhile, 

assured stakeholders that the PuC will allow 

for reasonable costs to suppliers but will not 

allow ‘inefficiencies’ to be passed on to the 

customer. if it remains Government policy 

to keep prices low, he conceded, it may be 

necessary to provide subsidies to fuel suppliers. 

deposits as well as revisions from 10 existing 

fields. uganda is set to become Africa’s newest 

oil producer when london-based Tullow oil 

Plc (TlW) and its partners, China National 

offshore oil Corp. and France’s ToTAl SA, 

begin pumping crude from 2016. 

their carbon footprints. The new Gull petrol 

station also features a concept café which will 

serve barista-made coffee and gourmet snacks 

ensuring people get their fix while on the go. 

commissioning stage, according to local reports, 

and may be fully operational before the third 

quarter of 2013. However, Nawwab did not 

confirm the projected start-up date. it is being 

built by Saudi Aramco as part of plans to boost 

its refining capacity, and will be focused on 

exporting fuel, according to the company. 

ENOC and aldrees sign joint venture 

Emirates National oil Company (ENoC), 

has signed a joint venture agreement with 

Aldrees Petroleum & Transport Services 

Company (Aldrees), one of Saudi Arabia’s 

largest fuel retailers, to set up service stations 

in different locations across the Kingdom. 

As per the 50:50 joint venture, the service 

stations will feature all the specialised and 

popular brands operated by ENoC including 

ZooM, Pronto, Super lube and Super 

Wash. The first station under the partnership 

is expected to open early next year, followed 

by a progressive roll-out. Eng. Abdulelah Saad 

Aldrees of Aldrees said: "With a network 

of more than 450 service stations in the 

Kingdom, Aldrees is an industry leader in 

petroleum retailing in Saudi Arabia. in line 

with our commitment to add value to our 

stakeholders, we are continuously exploring 

expansion opportunities that bring clear differentials 

to the market. 



BP adopts ‘tap and 

go’ pay system 

in New Zealand many motorists will 

be able to “tap and go” to pay for fuel at 

BP petrol stations in a development the 

company hopes will cut queues at its 

counters. BP said it had upgraded the 

eftpos systems in all its fuel stations to 

accept new credit and debit cards that 

incorporate Mastercard PayPass and Visa 

payWave technology. These cards can be 

tapped against payment terminals rather 

than having to be inserted or swiped. if 

customers have those cards, they won’t be 

required to enter a pin or sign for purchases 

under $ 80. Retailing manager Frank van 

Hattum said there were more than a million 

Mastercard PayPass cards in circulation in 

New Zealand. Normal eftpos transactions 

would also be speedier, he said, with the 

time needed to confirm payment cut from 

about ten seconds to just two. Z Energy 

has also said it is half-way through a $ 12 

million upgrade of its payment systems 

and planned to trial contactless payments 

this year with a commitment to accepting 

them next year. 

Petronet LNG plans 

to enlarge network 

Petronet lNG ltd’s (Pll) terminal worth 

4 200 rupees crore which can produce 5 million 

tonnes of liquefied natural gas (lNG) 

a year in the Puthuvype island off Kochi is 

expected to be commissioned by December. 

initiating the steps to enlarge the natural 

gas network in the state, Petronet lNG ter - 

minal officials have submitted a proposal 

to the KSRTC to convert buses to the 

compressed natural gas (CNG) format. Pll 

is also holding talks with companies such 

as Hindustan latex and Carborundum for 

the supply of lNG in 15-tonne tankers to 

these companies. 

aDDaX Energy fuel 

tender for tanzania 

Swiss firm, ADDAX Energy SA has won 

the fourth petroleum importation tender 

to supply petroleum products for domestic 

consumption for october, this year. The 

winner beat Augusta Energy SA (Geneva) 

which came second, Vitol SA (Geneva and 

london) which settled for the third position, 

Geneva-based Trafigura PTE limited 

was fourth and Sahara Energy Resources 

of Nigeria which came last. under the 

newly-introduced regulations, the tender 

size has been reduced covering an estimated 

consumption of 30 days instead of 60 as 

the previous three tenders. 

9


10 

Nigeria to ban non 

licensed stations 

The Department of Petroleum Resources 

(DPR) will from october, ban fuel stations 

without operating licences from taking 

delivery of petroleum products. So far 

this year 229 applications for renewal of 

operating licences have been received with 

201 being granted. The DPR have also 

said that the taking over of a fuel station, 

rebranding and operating without approval 

were all illegal and will be treated as such. 

Libya’s oil, gas sector 

generating cash 

A libyan oil company representative has 

said it expected to realize nearly $55 billion 

from oil and gas this year. The state-run 

National oil Corp. said it expected to 

make around $ 54.9 billion in revenue this 

year from exports and taxes on oil companies 

operating in the country. The u.S. 

Energy Department’s Energy information 

Administration, in its monthly review for 

July, reported that production by December 

2011 rebounded to 800 million barrel per 

day. The report said that by April 2012, 

libya oil production was at 1.4 million 

barrel per day. 

ugandan oil prospects 

are getting brighter 

Recently in uganda one billion barrels 

of oil were announced as having been 

discovered, pushing the figures of commercially 

viable deposits to at least 3.5 

billion barrels. uganda’s oil fields are 

showing a comparatively higher level 

of productivity when measured against 

the experience in other countries where 

the chances of oil discovery in an equal 

number of wells usually hovers at only 

10 percent. Exploration is still on-going 

with more discoveries expected. Before 

the discovery of the additional one billion 

barrels, the country’s exploration 

efforts in the Albertine Graben showed 

estimated oil and gas reserves of 2.5 billion 

barrels. But, production has been 

delayed by contractual disagreements, 

tax disputes and infrastructural setbacks, 

according to the Energy Ministry. Now, 

the oil companies invested in the sector, 

particularly Tullow oil, want commercial 

exploitation to start immediately, saying 

it is unfair for them to hold their capital 

idle. At the same conference, Tullow oil 

President in uganda, Elly Karuhganga, 

said with neighbouring countries discovering 

oil in the region, investor attention 

could turn to them. 

Omanoil on target for 2012 expansion 

omanoil has said that the company is on target 

with its expansion plan for 2012 having opened 

up nine new convenience stores and five new 

fuel service stations in the year to date. So 

far the company has opened stations in four 

governorates with all being accompanied by 

ahlain convenience stores.The newly opened 

stations bring the company’s total in operation 

in the sultanate to 137 service stations, 82 

Petronas eyes 1 000th outlet 

Elevated oil prices and subsequently higher 

product costs are not putting the brakes on 

Petronas Dagangan Bhd’s expansion plans. 

The company is set to open its milestone 

1 000th fuel station as it accelerates efforts 

to become Malaysia’s No.1 petroleum retailer 

in two to four years. Petronas Dagangan was 

eyeing total sales of five billion litres of petrol 

this year (increase 10 percent year-on-year), 

driven by the increase in its number of fuel 

Fuel giant commits to refinery 

Caltex Australia says it is committed to its re - 

maining refinery despite growing competition 

from Asia and the Middle East. The energy 

group said it expected the profitability of its 

last refinery, in Brisbane’s lytton, to come 

under pressure from the increased capacity 

in overseas markets. But the group said it 

made strategic sense to keep its remaining 

refining plant. Reporting a 74 percent 

Costco to compete in australia 

uS retailer Costco is seeking to break into 

Australia’s $ 15 billion-plus discount petrol 

business, currently dominated by Woolworths 

and Coles, by selling its own heavily reduced 

fuel at prices below those offered via popular 

Essar to retail fuel in kenya 

Essar has set up a pilot fuel retail outlet 

in the African country, where the likes of 

KenolKobil are already present. “Essar has 

set up a pilot retail outlet in Kenya under the 

franchisee model”, an Essar Energy spokesperson 

has stated. Fuel for the outlets would 

be sourced from Essar’s refinery in Kenya. 

The retail outlets would be set up under the 

Essar brand; the company wouldn’t partner 

Algeria building $ 3 billion refinery 

Construction on a new $ 3 billion refinery in 

Algeria is under way and is being undertaken in 

tandem with the development of the country’s 

petrochemical ventures. The new facility will 

be capable of producing liquefied petroleum 


solitary convenience stores and 14 car washes. 

“investing in strategic locations across oman 

reinforces the nation’s long-term development 

ambitions, while closing the retail network gap 

allows omanoil to better serve its customers 

in the country”, continued Al ishaqi. With 

the opening of its new stations, omanoil has 

become the fastest expanding fuel service 

station operator in the country. 

stations. This aggressive retail expansion 

is in line with management’s guidance and 

projections. The opening of the landmark 

1 000th station is definitely within reach 

given that Petronas added 12 new stations 

in the first half of 2012, bringing its total to 

980. The company plans to add a record 74 

new stations to its retail network by year-end, 

more than doubling its annual average of 30 

new stations. 

increase in first-half net profit, Caltex Chief 

Julian Segal said the refining business faced 

significant challenges as regional capacity 

outstripped growth in demand. Australia’s 

biggest oil refiner reported net profit on a 

replacement-cost-of-sales basis – a measure 

that strips out the value of its stockpiles – 

climbed from $ 113 million to $ 197 million 

in the six months to June. 

supermarket shopper-docket schemes. Costco 

has requested room to build fuel stations 

in Brisbane and Sydney and awaits council 

approval. Costco plans eventually to open as 

many as 20 outlets in Australia. 

any local company for this. “Currently, we are 

studying the market and, depending on the 

outcome, may undertake modest expansion”, 

the spokesperson added. As part of its global 

expansion plans, Essar Energy had acquired 50 

percent stake in Kenya Petroleum Refineries 

(KPRl) in 2009 from Royal Dutch Shell, BP 

and Chevron with the Kenyan government 

owning the remaining 50 percent. 

gas, benzene and kerosene, and will produce 

5 million tones of petroleum products annually. 

600 permanent new jobs will be created 

at the site, which is located in the Baskara 

region of the capital Algiers.



11

INtERvIEw – DON kENNEy 

12 

‘Let’s be Frank’ – A one to one interview with 

H a v i n g 

been with 

Franklin 

Fueling for 

21 years, Don 

explained that 

back in 2000 

they took a long 

hard look at their 

business and concluded 

that a company 

like theirs, 

selling just one 

particular product, 

a submersible pumping 

system, would not be 

able to remain 

the same and 

grow its businesssignificantly 

over the 

coming years. He 

explained “With a number of 

other manufacturers and the oil 

companies consolidating as much as they were, 

we still felt confident that our business would 

remain strong in the markets we operated in, but 

could not see how our growth could continue 

at the rate it had been doing over the previous 

five years”. 

Franklin was already a global player at that time, 

having first marketed its products outside the 

uS as far back as 1993. Don continued “My 

predecessor had a very clear plan, to venture 

into other regions of the world once Franklin 

was established in the US. Our achievements 

internationally have been down to careful 

planning, hard work and looking to work with 

customers, marketers, distributors and oil 

companies, wherever they may be. But, it was 

a very slow process; until that is we launched 

two new innovations into the market around 

about 1995 and then things really changed for 

Franklin Fueling”. 

since the turn of the millennium, Franklin Fueling has developed rapidly through a series of selective acquisitions 

and strong organic growth. Headquartered in wisconsin usa and as a leading manufacturer of 

fuel management systems, Franklin is now acknowledged as being one of the market’s key players on 

both sides of the atlantic. Meeting up with Don kenney at the automechanika exhibition in Frankfurt 

recently, gave me the chance to learn more about what the company thinking was a decade or so 

ago and to ask ‘frankly’ if everything has now come together as they had envisaged it back then. 

The first of these new products was a variable 

pipe length for submersible pumps. At that 

time, connecting a tank to a pump would often 

involve having to take the link pipe apart and 

re-fitting it on site, largely due to the fact that 

tanks vary considerably in shapes and sizes. 

Then there maybe the riser pipe to consider 

depending how far the tank is buried into the 

ground or the fact that some customers want a 

pump 6 inches off the bottom of the tank and 

others prefer them to be 10 inches off the bottom. 

With Franklin’s variable length pipe, the 

system allowed it to be set at the correct length 

and locked into position, without operators having 

to carry out a lengthy re-fitting procedure. 

Franklin’s second innovation was variable speed 

technology. Previously, a motor in a submersible 

pump would operate only at a constant speed 

no matter how many nozzles were being used 

at the time. This had the effect of producing a 

very high flow rate with one user, but a much 

slower one when multiple people were sharing a 

pump. With a variable speed motor and controllers, 

the motor would spin faster as the demand 

goes up, keeping the supply to the first nozzle 

exactly the same as it was when the customer 

first started pumping. Don commented “Prior 

to these two new initiatives being developed by 

Franklin, our business was purely submersible 

pumps, mainly in the US and Canada. It is fair 

to say that after the gateway to the rest of the 

world opened up for us”. 

internationally, Franklin first started out in the 

uK, where initially it won some business, before 

deciding ultimately to tie up with Gilbarco 

alongside its established product line. After 

that the company entered Austria, largely due 

to one of its partners, who was helping with 

the various approvals in Europe, knowing that 

market and speaking the language. i suggested 

to Don that getting approvals and certificates in 

the uS is a much simpler affair when compared 

to Europe, where in most circumstances the 


legislation is Federal based. i mentioned to 

him that one of his competitors has a person 

spending 100 days a year receiving the various 

officials every six months from each one of the 

European countries. He quipped “Yup and that’s 

just for one product. At Franklin we have seven 

different product lines in all those countries 

which increases the work factor tremendously. 

But it is getting better. If you get your product 

approved to the EN standard you can go and 

basically sell that product anywhere. You still 

have to get local approval, or in Germany get 

special approval, which we have just received this 

week, but generally speaking the EN standard now 

works in many other countries around the world. 

Africa and Australia are good examples of this”. 

i put it to Don that the business potential for 

getting approvals in Germany for Polyethylene 

piping was surely limited, as it is a country committed 

to steel pipes. Why would the market want 

to change the habit of a lifetime? He answered 

“It’s still going to be a difficult sell in Germany as 

it is used to steel and they trust it, but now there 

are at least two manufacturers with the correct 

certification in place, our potential customers 

may not be so skeptical as they might have been 

when approvals had only been granted to one 

company. However our global contracts with the 

major M.O.Cs will automatically produce business 

in this region as many of them are committed 

to polyethylene pipes wherever they operate. In 

fact we have an installation going in with Shell 

relatively soon which is a good example of the 

point I am making”. 

So coming back to when it all changed for 

Franklin, i asked Don what happened after 

1995. He continued “At this time, FE Petro, as 

our company was called then, experienced a 

huge change. Between 1995 and 1998 our global 

market share for submersible pumps grew from 

10 percent to approximately 50 percent, mostly 

due to the two new innovations we had developed 

and the upgrades that were required at that time

Don Kenney, President, Franklin Fuelling 

for underground storage tanks and piping systems 

in the US. Outside of the US we were also selling 

to Europe, South Africa and Australia. We still 

share roughly 50 percent of the world market 

today, with a fellow US company, Red Jacket, 

now owned by leading retail pump manufacturer 

Gilbarco. Back in 1998, the global submersible 

pump market was worth approximately $50 Million. 

Today it is of course worth significantly more, 

but it has not grown as fast as some other sectors 

in the industry and we predicted this back then. 

We decided that if we wanted to be a major player 

in the future, we had to do more, especially in 

light of all the supplier and oil company mergers 

going on. We asked ourselves what it was we were 

good at and what things we could bring to the 

marketplace which weren’t simply variations on 

an existing product. We needed products that 

would really complement our business and support 

our customer base more effectively. 

The result was we acquired two companies. 

Firstly EBW, which specialised in service station 

hardware and tank truck equipment, followed 

by APT, a piping manufacturer selling systems 

globally. Our strategy was simply to become a 

supplier of products from tank to nozzle, including 

fuel monitoring, an area we were able to fully 

address at a later stage. EBW already had a tank 

gauging system, but it was not as sophisticated 

as we really wanted it to be, so we looked at 

acquiring a suitable company to bring in the 

expertise we needed and in 2002 we purchased 

Incon. They had a good system but the company 

lacked direction and certain marketing abilities, 

so it was a good fit for them and for us. 

We also bought a line leak detection product about 

the same time from a company called Campbell 

Miller. You will notice that today our line leak 

detectors use a technology called Auto Learn, 

as we believe the only way to successfully carry 

out line leak detection is to fully understand 

exactly what that piping system is. There are 

not two piping systems the same. This product 

allows users easy access to learn about our piping, 

so we acquired this particular technology 

and integrated it into the Incon FMS solution”. 

in 2005 Franklin bought Californian Company 

Phil-Tite, which offered spill containment 

systems. This was followed by the acquisition 

of Healy, a very well known industry company 

supplying vapour recovery solutions mostly to 

the uS, but also to Europe, Korea, Taiwan and 

today it is the leading vapour recovery product 

in China. So far Don and his fellow Directors 

had focused their search for acquisitions on one 

side of the Atlantic, but Franklin’s next major 

purchase in September 2010 took them to the 

uK in pursuit of polyethylene pipe supplier uPP. 

Don commented “UPP was a good acquisition 

and it means that today, together with the APT 

product, Franklin is now the global leader in 

terms of market share for piping systems”. 

With more things in the pipeline i’m sure, forgive 

the pun, the progress for Franklin seems 

relentless. With a big booth at Automechanika 

in Frankfurt and an even bigger one at the PEi / 

NACS convention this month in las Vegas, i 

get the feeling that there will certainly be no 

standing still for them, in the short term anyway. 

However, there was one last question i wanted 

to put to Don. i asked him if they would ever 

consider purchasing a mainstream dispenser 

manufacturer if the right opportunity presented 

itself, as this would surely be a natural fit for 

their growing stable of retail petroleum products. 

He replied “We talk about a great many acquisitions 

and how they might fit into the mix and 

like you, many people have said that it might 

make sense for us to acquire such a product. All 

I can say is there is no reason why we shouldn’t, 

but then again there is also no reason at this 

moment why we should. We still have a few 

more corners to cover and we will look at those 

as and when opportunities present themselves”. 


INtERvIEw – DON kENNEy 

by Nick Needs 

So what about the future, i asked. Consolidation 

or more acquisitions. Don told me “As far 

as manufacturing is concerned we are providing 

the best methods in manufacturing, the best 

locations in which to do it, the highest quality 

throughput and the best value. Our focus is to 

grow outside of the US and Canada, which not 

too long ago represented the major slice of our 

turnover. Today, by increasing our international 

sales, this region now represents a little more than 

50 percent of our total business. Our product 

lines that are international may be very similar 

to the products we sell in the US, but there is 

a difference. So the way we look at it is, we 

can either develop these organically within the 

company or who knows there could be another 

acquisition in the works somewhere”. 

Spending the last few minutes focusing on 

his home market, Don told me that like other 

parts of the world, America is dynamic and 

fast moving. in recent years he says, change 

has happened fast. He added “Major oil companies 

have reduced their presence with regard 

to owning retail operations. 20 years ago there 

were five customers we had to pay close attention 

to. Now there are, let’s just say, a great deal 

more than that”. 

it was a delight and a great pleasure to meet 

up with Don. if you would like to do the same 

you will find him on the Franklin stand at 

PEi / NACS from 7th – 10th october in las 

Vegas, uSA. 

More details on Franklin can be found at 

www.franklinfueling.com 

13

PRODuCt NEws 

14 

ORtEC optimises 

Gulf supply chain 

Gulf oil has renewed its cooperation with 

oRTEC, a leading supplier in resource 

optimization tools and consulting services. 

The cooperation between Gulf oil and 

oRTEC focuses mainly on the optimization 

of supply chain processes and inventory 

management. Gulf oil and oRTEC have 

already been working together successfully 

for over 10 years. Gulf oil recently 

reported a significant cost reduction by 

using oRTEC’s demand forecasting and 

order generation software in combination 

with oRTEC’s route and distribution planning 

software. The optimum allocation 

of Gulf’s vehicle fleet next to optimized 

orders generated on a just-in-time basis 

smoothen Gulf’s daily operations and have 

resulted in cost savings, enhanced return 

on investment and increased customer 

satisfaction. “oRTEC software taught us 

how to optimize our supply chain’’, says 

Gulf’s logistics Manager Kirsten Vernimmen. 

“oRTEC really encourages us to 

re-think the way we work and involves us 

pro-actively’’. 

statOIL implement 

sECu Multitank 

SECu-TECH Austria and GooDTECH 

have signed a contract with STAToil Fuel 

& Retail Norway for installation of SECu- 

TECHs CoP system, SECu MultiTank, 

at Statoils fuel stations. STAToil Fuel 

& Retail is well known for the safe and 

efficient handling of fuel and to complement 

their safety standards will also install 

SECu MultiPiDs from Secu-Tech in about 

1.500 stations in Sweden, Denmark, Poland 

and the Baltics. installations in latvia and 

lithuania have already been completed, 

as well as at all JET-branded stations in 

Sweden. The SECu-TECH equipment is 

installed by contract partners of STAToil 

Fuel & Retail in the different countries. 

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

Gilbarco veeder-Root is building better business 

Gilbarco Veeder-Root Europe redefines and 

re-launches reflecting the company’s strategic 

goals and internal changes. The resulting 

new focus allows Gilbarco Veeder-Root to 

meet their customers’ needs with adaptable, 

expandable solutions wherever they are. Stephen 

Moule, President Gilbarco Veeder-Root 

EMEA, states “Brand is important. it forms 

the lens through which our customers view 

us, and a real understanding of the benefits 

our products, services and solutions offer. 


With fuel retailers increasingly requiring 

ever more advanced and integrated solutions 

across fuelling and payment, our product 

and service offering is constantly evolving 

and growing to meet our customers’ needs. 

We pride ourselves on responding to those 

needs. This is an exciting time for us, bringing 

together a diverse collection of market 

leading assets, world renowned sub-brands 

and talented people under a single, strong 

identity.” 

tOkHEIM Group acquires Petro-Logic in south africa 

ToKHEiM, one of the world’s largest suppliers 

of fuel retailing solutions, is delighted to 

announce the acquisition of Petro-logic from 

the PSV Group. ToKHEiM South Africa, 

the new name for the business, will retain 

the current experienced management and the 

existing dedicated and passionate employees. 

The new business will continue to operate from 

the head-office in Johannesburg, and three 

major hubs in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and 

Durban. Paul Pedeprat, General Manager, 

ToKHEiM iAME Region, says, “ToKHEiM 

is very pleased to be back in South Africa and 

Petro-logic has a long track record of good 

equipment and professional maintenance 

services across the country. They have been 

a special partner to ToKHEiM and we are 

very happy to have them back now as a direct 

operation within the ToKHEiM Group. 

This investment further confirms the commitment 

of ToKHEiM Group to Africa and 

our ambition to provide our global, regional 

and local customers with the best technology, 

equipment and services.” 

wayne invests in CNG dispenser production 

Wayne, A GE Energy Business has announced 

that it has relocated the company’s production 

of compressed natural gas (CNG) dispensers 

manufacturing operation from Talmona, italy, 

to Malmö, Sweden. The move to Malmö, 

Wayne’s European technology and engineering 

hub, increases efficiency while providing 

access to a wide range of resources – from 

top engineering and design professionals to 

expansive assembly and warehousing capabilities. 

Following the sale of Wayne’s CNG 

compressor line, this move enables Wayne to 

focus on its strength, dispenser technology. 

This furthers its strategy to provide global 

customers with safe, reliable, state-of-the-art 

dispenser systems built with quality components 

for ease of use and serviceability – all 

at competitive prices. 

Petrotec & Premier Group join forces 

Discussions have taken place to establish a 

joint PFS Service and Maintenance operation 

in the uK, combining Premier’s service 

and maintenance experience and Petrotec’s 

leading edge products and Technology. The 

two companies are now negotiating the legal 

requirements for a joint operation. The 

Petrotec Group is focused on equipment 

for the retail and distribution of the oil and 

gas industries.

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

OPw to work with veyance technologies 

oPW Fuelling Components EMEA announced 

today that it has reached an exclusive longterm 

sales and marketing agreement with 

Veyance Technologies, the manufacturer of 

Goodyear industrial Hose, to act as the sole 

sales and marketing channel for Veyance 

Technolgies petroleum dispensing hoses and 

other related products used in commercial and 

retail fuelling markets. The markets covered 

in this agreement include Europe and other 

select markets within EMEA. A new, locally 

assembled and co-branded hose named 

“Avance by oPW” is available from oPW’s 

European operations. Veyance Technologies 

manufacture a complete family of Goodyear 

petroleum dispensing hose products – all of 

which are EN- and ul-listed. By virtue of this 

agreement, oPW will combine the strengths 

of its EMEA sales team, technical support 

capabilities and vast distribution network with 

Goodyear’s decades of proven success in the 

petroleum-hose industry to provide customers 

a highly valued, and integrated hanging hardware 

fuelling solution. For more information 

on oPW Fueling Components EMEA and 

its complete line of solutions designed for 

the commercial and retail fuelling markets, 

please visit www.oPWGlobal.com 

Neste Oil invest in technology from Orpak 

Neste oil, Finland has launched the Fuelomat 

Gold automated vehicle identification solution 

at selected Truck stations throughout Finland. 

The solution is provided by orpak Systems, a 

global supplier of automated fuelling solutions 

based on RFiD vehicle identification. This 

new technology is being offered to Neste oil’s 

commercial fleet customers under the Truck+ 

name. Truck+ is designed to give customers 

better control over their fleets’ refuelling, 

reduce their fuel costs, and enable them to 

benefit from more convenient, secure, and 

faster refuelling. Fuelomat only allows fuel 

to be dispensed when the nozzle is inside an 

authorized vehicle’s fuel tank inlet, reducing 

the risk of misuse. Neste oil customers will no 

longer need to use fuel cards at their Truck+ 

stations. Drivers simply insert the nozzle into 

their vehicle’s fuel or Adblue tanks and the 

system automatically authorizes the vehicle. 

Fairbanks win 3 year contract with shell 

Fairbanks, a specialist in wetstock monitoring 

and management services, is proud to announce 

hat it has been awarded a three-year wetstock 

management contract by Shell. Fairbanks will 

partner with ToKHEiM as part of the contract 

to deliver its services to more than 3 000 petrol 

stations, in 25 countries, across three continents. 

A combination of hardware and software 

applications will provide automatic, real-time 

data to a team of Fairbanks analysts. Fairbanks 

experts will provide detailed statistical inventory 

reconciliation (SiR) analysis of wetstock 

data to Shell to help the company benefit from 

improved wet stock protection and reduce the 

potential for fuel loss incidents. Shell’s Peter 

Houlton said, “Shell identified sites which would 

benefit from remote wet stock monitoring and 

Fairbanks emerged as our provider of choice. 

PsD Codax unveil ‘smart technology’ 

During the recent Automechanika in 

Frankfurt PSD Codax launched its new generation 

access control systems for car wash 

equipment, featuring both code access and 

contactless smartcard technology. As well 

as adding smartcard technology, the new 

Codax terminals provide faster authorisation 

and rapid printing. 


PRODuCt NEws 

Franklin Fueling recieves 

DIBt approval 

Franklin Fueling Systems has announced 

that their uPP Pipework System has 

received German DiBt approval. The 

approval was received only after meeting 

the strict demands of the DiBt approval 

process which involves achieving several 

qualifications, even more exacting than EN 

14125 standard. As part of the approval 

process, uPP non-conductive pipework 

was certified to be safe in respect to 

static risk by the German PTB approval 

agency. The DiBt approval includes an 

A-deviation from the EN 14125 standard, 

which mandates a more stringent zero 

permeation requirement in Germany. A 

largescale initiative to supply uPP installer 

Certification training throughout Germany 

is currently underway. Franklin Fueling 

Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of 

Franklin Electric Co., inc., a global leader 

in the production and marketing of systems 

and components for the movement of water 

and automotive fuels. 

wincor Nixdorf and 

QuaD partner 

Wincor Nixdorf, one of the world’s leading 

vendors of iT solutions for retail, and QuAD 

GmbH, one of Europe’s leading distributors 

of PoS systems, will be cooperating in 

future. Within the partnership, Quad will 

take over the distribution of PoS systems 

from Wincor Nixdorf to resellers in Germany, 

Austria and Switzerland. in taking 

this step, Wincor Nixdorf is continuing its 

overall expansion by extending its partner 

business. The cooperation will in future 

allow specialty retailers or catering companies, 

for example, to use PoS solutions 

from the market leader Wincor Nixdorf. 

With the PoS systems from Wincor Nixdorf, 

QuAD will serve a reseller network 

that offers sophisticated iT solutions to 

customers in 80 sectors of industry. 

15

REvIEw autOMECHaNIka 2012 

16 

‘What they said’ at Automechanika 

xxx 

This is just a ‘Snap Shot’ review of the 

show, capturing just a few of the many 

faces in the industry. All in all it was a 

positive event for most and the attendance 

figures generally were at normal levels. The 

usual questions were raised concerning 

the long duration of the event, but this is 

something that is unlikely to change in the 

short term, unless that is the organisers 

do something about it. The expensive cost 

of hotels in Frankfurt was another regular 

grumble which showed up in exhibitor 

feedback comments. We are sorry we did 

not include pics or comments from the following 

companies which were exhibiting, 

Elaflex, Scheidt & Bachmann, labkotec, 

Flex-ing, Durapipe, Kärcher, Horn, KPS, 

Bennet & Sauser, SGB, Torex, Mepsan, 

Fafnir, Hectronic, Fibrelite and Brugg 

to name a few, but it seems that in all of 

those cases we were either missing either a 

pic or a comment and in some cases both. 

(Left to right) Petr Bus from TSE Netherlands, Batuhan Kiroğlu from 

Mepsan Turkey and the much travelled Bob Allen from the UK, meet 

up for the final of the ‘who’s got the smartest tie’ competition. Well 

done Bob! 

Regional Sales Director Europe, Peter Van Der Gaag (right) and 

his colleague Andrea Ticci, finding a moment on the busy Franklin 

stand to re create their impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger and 

Danny Devito in the famous Hollywood movie, ‘Twins’. 


The regular Elaflex party on Wednesday 

evening in the centre of Frankfurt was a 

huge success this year and many peoples 

thanks must go to Stefan, Anton and the 

whole Elaflex team, for making sure this 

regular occasion was so well organised and 

enjoyed by everyone. Next stop las Vegas 

for PEi / NACS at the beginning of october, 

followed by Autocomplex in Moscow on 

the 24th – 27th and then erpec in Nice 

from 16th – 18th April 2013. 

A very satisfied looking Bob Conlin, Director of UK company Fairbanks, 

who was very pleased to talk about the three year wetstock management 

they have recently secured with Shell. 

Director of International operations for US company Tanknology, Ignacio 

Allende, said there was a great deal of interest in their Petroscope robotic 

camera. If you missed it in Frankfurt, come and see it in Las Vegas. 

There is a 

Communications 

everything eff 

still have tim

2012 

by Nick Needs 

Jurjen van der Honing, Managing Director, SloanLED Europe, reported 

that the market is very good at the moment for LED lighting, with many 

people looking for energy and maintenance saving alternatives. 

Arid Technology President, Ted Tiberi said more education is 

needed on vapour recovery. Not enough is being done currently 

and he points out that recovery efficiency should not 

only be covered at the vehicle, it should also include the tank. 

distinct James Bond style look to Gilbarco’s Marketing & 

Manager, John Tierney, who as usual seemed to control 

ortlessly on their extremely busy stand and I would guess 

e for a ‘Martini’ shaken not stirred, at the end of the day. 

Taras Shibanov, from Russian engineering company, Melston, was visiting 

Automechanika for the first time. He said it was a great experience seeing 

the European market all in one place. Melston, a specialist contractor for 

Russian oil company Gazprom, will also be attending erpec 13 in Nice. 

The new double air and vacuum unit was the star attraction 

on the Air-Serv stand. European Sales Director, 

Piet Kruissen also explained to us, that putting air 

in your car tyres regularly can save about 500 euro’s 

a year on petrol, by having the correct air pressure. 

Horst von Wels, VP and Head of service for Wincor Nixdorf, told us 

everything is currently centring on payment and check out. The cashless 

payment trends continues moving from credit cards to mobile phone 

payment technology. 



For OPW, Director Product Commercialisation, 

Klaus-Peter Probanowski, 

It was all about nozzles as the wall 

behind him shows, specifically their 

next generation Advance model. 

We just put this picture in of Valentina Amadei, Marketing Manager for 

pipe manufacturer Nupigeco, because we liked it! 

17


18 

One of the winners of the Car wash ‘Machine Vs Man’ 

competition, where honours ended up even after the 

event, with Man winning 6 times and Machine winning 

the same. Good fun to watch though. 

Otto Christ was as busy as usual on the Christ stand. So busy, in fact, 

that we were unable to get a few words in. Business was reported to be 

very active from a stand executive close by. 

The last person we managed to talk to was Takashi 

Okahira, Key account Manager for Tatsuno in 

Europe, who told us that their Ad Blue dispensers 

and applications had drawn the most interest at the 

exhibition. A much bigger stand this time for Tatsuno. 

Car wash world outside the main retail petroleum hall, against a background 

of Frankfurt high rise buildings. 


Miguel Silva, International Sales Manager from Petrotec was 

probably the hardest worker in the entire exhibition. This photo 

was taken at 7pm on Wednesday evening, still talking business 

whilst just about everyone else had at least their first drink. 

Tokheim had the help of Elvis Presley on Wednesd 

this might be Kurt Dillen, but this was not confirm 

website was launched at the show, which is incred 

and is a credit to the people who created it! Well d

The man responsible for the ‘Machine Vs Man’ Car wash challenge, 

Edwin Grabowski from German magazine, Car Wash Info. Absolutely 

amazed that in the UK nearly 60 percent of paid for car washes are now 

carried out by Man and Woman. 

Price sign specialist PWM exhibited a space age 

looking new LED column sign which Managing 

Director Dr Max Krawinkel was pleased to show off. 

Kinetic Energy, keeping the energy in flow and a 

unique wrap around style, made it a show stopper. 

ay evening. I was told 

ed. The new Tokheim 

ibly well thought out 

one. 

Thomas Roth, Washtec’s Head of Marketing demonstrated the unique 

new cassette system they have developed for replacing car wash chemicals. 

It’s just like changing a very big cartridge on a printer. Very simple. 

The only difference being the ink cartridge is probably more expensive! 



Istobal Car Wash Managing Director, Rafael Thomás looking as relaxed 

as ever telling me their theme this year was new ideas! A new low cost car 

wash, new blue enclosures and the hybrid MNEX 25, allowing operators 

a choice of high pressure wash or a brush wash were on display. 

Maja Stirrat, Area Sales Manager for Nupigeco said 

that their new LPG pipe drew a great deal of interest, 

along with the 100% automatic welding unit on display. 

For Graham Round, Managing Director of access control 

company PSD Codax, the main talk at the show 

was about their new ticket terminal for car washes, 

allowing operators the option of offering multi-wash 

smart cards and account cards. 

19

News from Russia & Cis 

Opposition to Rosneft 

buying into tNk-BP 

Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, 

who coordinates energy policy in the world’s 

largest oil producing nation, said the government 

had not yet discussed the details of a 

possible deal with Rosneft CEo igor Sechin. 

“overall, it serves no useful purpose for any state 

company to expand its role in the economy”, 

Dvorkovich told the newspaper in an interview. 

Dvorkovich, previously the top economic 

official in the Kremlin, took over the role of 

deputy prime minister responsible for energy 

from Sechin after Vladimir Putin returned 

to the presidency in May. Dvorkovich and 

Sechin have publicly clashed over numerous 

issues including privatisation, where Sechin 

has been seeking to consolidate energy assets 

under state control. The deputy premier said 

Rosneft would not be able to buy a stake in 

TNK-BP, Russia’s third-largest oil firm, without 

government permission. He also questioned 

how Rosneft might be able to raise the estimated 

uS $ 30 billion that could be required 

to complete a transaction. 

tNk-BP plan 

us $ 2 billion tender 

TNK-BP is planning to hold a uS $ 2 billion 

tender by the end of the year for the supply of 

steel pipes from overseas suppliers. TNK-BP 

which previously spent an average of uS $500 

million a year on pipes from domestic producers, 

has decided to import tubes from China 

and Japan in the next five years, making use 

of Russia’s accession to the World Trade organisation 

Vice President olga Malyshkina 

said. She said that “We are ready to acquire 

the whole volume of pipes from abroad, if the 

prices are lower, the quality is higher and the 

logistics are more acceptable. 

Gazprom strikes back 

Russian gas giant Gazprom has released a 

statement responding to news that the European 

Commission has launched an anti-trust 

investigation against the company. Gazprom 

stresses that it strictly abides by all national 

and European regulations in the territory it 

operates, something it argues is of top priority. 

The company says that it learned about 

the probe from the EC’s website, rather than 

being officially informed, and said it hoped it 

legal interests and rights will be safeguarded. 

kazakhstan retailers operate at a loss 

Fuel retailers in Kazakhstan have appealed 

to the Ministry of oil and Gas to revise the 

maximum retail price of fuel, or to set the 

threshold price for wholesalers. The Pavlodar 

Petrochemical Plant said that it suffers losses 

20 

LatEst NEws, LatEst EvENts, RussIa NEws jOBs ONLINE – www.PEtROLPLaza.COM 

– www.PEtROLPLaza.COM 

due to a high prices of Russian oil and may 

soon be forced to raise their wholesale prices. 

“Since August we are working at a 20 percent 

loss said General Director of the plant Surat 

Danbay”. 

Construction in Belarus by Russian companies 

Russian companies are building fuel stations, 

in Belarus, constructing about 30 percent of all 

fuel stations being built there including stations 

for Gazprom Neft, TNK-BP, and Tatneft. The 

funding for the new builds is provided mainly 

by private investors. Much attention is being 

given to the renovation of highways linking the 

metropolitan city using modern construction 

and architectural solutions. The retail trade of 

roadside service facilities exceeded uS $ 500 

million in 2011. The trade expands by at least 

20 percent every year. 

vitol signs partnership to invest in ukraine 

Swiss-based Vitol has signed an agreement with 

london-based investment group Eastone to 

develop gas fields in the ukraine, the companies 

said in a statement, as the energy trader seeks to 

increase its stake in the world’s fastest growing 

fuel. The latest deal was signed between Vitol’s 

subsidiary Arawak and Eastone’s ukraine-based 

independent gas producer Geo Alliance which 

has permits in the country’s eastern Dnieper- 

Donets basin, the firms informed. Vitol, the 

world’s top oil trader, has been expanding its 

portfolio of natural gas assets and said last month 

it had signed a Memorandum of understanding 

alongside italy’s ENi to develop an offshore gas 

block in Ghana. Vitol already has natural gas 

assets in Russia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan 

and is seeking other growth opportunities in 

the former Soviet union. 

Estonian diesel fuel production may end 

The future of Estonian-produced diesel fuel 

is endangered by a tough Co 2 norm of the 

European Climate Directorate. The car fuel 

produced by Viru Keemia Grupp and Eesti 

Energia from oil shale cannot be sold even in 

Estonia if the European Climate Directorate 

manages to implement an environmental 

restriction based on an arbitrary ratio. Estonian 

chemical industries will thus have to hope 

for the benevolence of international large 

companies. “Production will be launched by 

us but we will lose a lot of money if we cannot 

come to the market freely with our diesel fuel 

and sales scheme becomes costly”, said Viru 

Keemia Grupp (VKG) Board Chairman Priit 

Rohumaa. Kiviõli Keemiatööstus and Alexela 

petrol station chain co-owner Heiti Hääl was not 

that optimistic. “Considering the development 

phases of shale oil refining projects, certainly 

no one intends to build a plant, the sale of 

production of which would be complicated or 

economically ineffective”, said Hääl. 

Exxon CEO says Russia deal a model for the rest 

The head of ExxonMobil held up a partnership 

with Russia’s Rosneft as a model for 

the rest of the world, lending international 

credibility to President Vladimir Putin at a 

time when his authoritarian style faces mounting 

criticism. ExxonMobil’s Rex Tillerson, 

flanked by Rosneft CEo igor Sechin, was 

the first foreign CEo to greet Putin ahead 

of the Asia-Pacific economic summit. Putin 

presided over ExxonMobil’s deal to join forces 

with state-controlled Rosneft to drill for oil 

in Russia’s offshore zones and tap “tight” oil 

reserves in Siberia. ExxonMobil and Rosneft 

unveiled the offshore exploration partnership 

that could invest up to uS $ 500 billion in 

developing Russia’s vast energy reserves in 

the Arctic and Black seas. “For the world, the 

political leadership, policy partnerships that 

have made our relationship possible serve 

as a model illuminating the path to a better 

future”, Tillerson told Putin. “For Russia 

this relationship is already bearing fruit in 

terms of new investment, innovations, new 

possibilities”, Tillerson said.


wayNE – sPECIaL FEatuRE 

22 

Annika 

Birkler, 

Global 

Product 

Manager 

Helix by Wayne – A dispenser with the feminine touch by Nick Needs 

So much has been written about Wayne’s new 

Helix dispenser family, that trying to find 

a new angle on this much publicised piece 

of high tech equipment, seemed extremely 

unlikely, until that is i was introduced to 

the Wayne Helix Product Manager and its 

Dispenser Product Manager, Annika Birkler 

and lise-lotte Nordholm. Following an hour 

long interview with them both, i concluded 

that if there is a slightly softer side to these 

modern looking pieces of hardware, it could 

just be because at the crucial design stage 

the input was not totally male dominated 

like it may have been in the past, or is that 

being sexist? i’m not sure. However, it was 

extremely interesting to listen and hear the 

views of both Annika and lise-lotte on the 

creation of Helix, helped along as usual with 

some excellent hospitality, on the Wayne stand 

at the Automechanika exhibition. 

i asked Annika how long it had taken to 

design the Helix range and wondered at 

what point the powers above decided a new 

product range was needed. Was it because 

of marketing trends pointing to new ways in 

which customers would like their petrol to be 

served or more likely, new technology coming 

onto the market which could improve the 

performance of the existing Wayne dispenser 

line? She said, “At Wayne we always strive 

to provide state of the art equipment to our 

customers. The Helix innovation started over 

three years ago with an approach of being a 

global product line offering the same technology, 

high quality and design solutions to 

customers whoever or wherever they are in 

the world. The Helix range with a common 

iconic design is also about brand building 

for us and brand building for our customers. 

if you look at the Apple iPod and iPad you 

will see a common design language between 

them, a feature also shade in the car industry 

with BMW and Audi for example. This was 

something we wanted to create for Wayne so 

that people can instantly recognise a Wayne 

product and know what the company and its 

products stand for. our latest designs are 

there to impress our customers in ways they 

have never experienced before and as we are 

producing a global product range, we need 

solutions that can be adapted easily to suit 

any country”. 

The family of Wayne Helix dispensers on display. 


i suggested to Annika that with all the hype 

and mystery surrounding the launch of the 

Helix, the iconic way in which it is being 

marketed and of course the product itself, 

one might be forgiven for thinking this is a 

mainstream consumer product we are talking 

about. it’s almost suggesting that petrol 

retailers should think to themselves that one 

day; they too may have a Wayne pump on their 

forecourt. Possibly in the same way i might 

convince myself that one day i might have 

a Porsche in my garage. i don’t even have a 

garage at the moment so there is not much 

chance of that. So what’s behind all this, i 

asked her. “This is how we see it”, she said. 

“We operate a back to back business, but the 

product is used by consumers, so that’s why 

we felt it was very important to identify with 

this and make it not only appealing, but also 

extremely functional for customers on the 

petrol forecourt. 

How do you know what customers filling up 

their cars want? is it through your own personal 

experiences or did you do any research into 

the matter, seemed at the time like a clever 

question to ask her. i was extremely surprised 

when she said “That’s exactly what we did. 

Before doing any sketching of the product, 

design concepts or engineering, we partnered 

up with iDEo, a well renowned industrial 

design firm, which helped us earlier with

our uS ovation dispenser range. They are 

a global organisation and where we started 

was simply going out in many regions of the 

world, talking to every type of person who 

comes into contact with fuel dispensers, for 

example the user, the service technicians, station 

attendants and the retailers themselves, 

to ask what they do and don’t like about them. 

We had iDEo to carry out the surveys, with 

no Wayne flavour added to make them as 

impartial as possible.” 

So what did you learn from this i asked her, 

not being able to think what i might reply 

if someone asked me what i expected from 

a petrol pump. i think, ideally i would like 

someone to serve me. Annika sat forward in 

her chair, seemingly delighted at the chance 

of being able to present these findings, which 

she says formed the backbone of their design 

work. “We discovered primarily that many 

people think putting petrol in a car is not a 

pleasant experience. You pay a lot of money, 

it’s a dirty environment and people just want 

to get out of there as quickly as possible. 

Creating a better refueling experience is 

exactly what the Helix is all about although 

there is of course no pleasing everyone. in 

Sweden we researched a woman on a forecourt 

who wanted her children entertained and 

watched over, whilst she filled up her car”. 

in Sweden? The land of the unmanned petrol 

station. Even less likely than anywhere else 

on the planet, depending on which planet 

you are on. 

Annika continued. “one of the strongest themes 

derived from the research, was that people do 

not want to handle dirty equipment. Standing 

in a pool of diesel in nice shoes and handling 

a smelly diesel nozzle were not appreciated by 

users from every country we worked in. South 

America, Europe and in the uSA, they all said 

the same things. So styling the equipment to 

look good and making it easy to clean, using 

surface structures and 

materials that wipe 

off easily, is a simple 

design principle we 

were able to build 

into the Helix range. 

There were even ways 

we discovered how to 

hide the dirt, rather 

than the customer 

see it”. 

Not with standing 

the technological fea - 

tures of the Helix 

range, all of which are 

well documented on 

the waynehelix.com, 

this did all seem to 

make a great deal of sense and it was now 

down to lise-lotte to talk through the features 

of the four different dispensers which 

were gleaming white, with a touch of blue, 

in front of us. low cost, economy, business 

class and first class immediately came to 

my mind as i studied each of them carefully, 

asking myself if any of them, or indeed all of 

them would make me feel better about refueling 

my car. i decided that the 6000 model, 

First Class, was certainly the equivalent of 

the M series for BMW. lise-lotte, pointed 

to the chunky and 

almost robotic looking 

fuel dispenser i 

was standing next 

to and said ”You 

can see that all the 

edges of the pump 

have been designed 

so they don’t hold 

the dirt. As Annika 

mentioned earlier, 

the surface of these 

casings is easy to 

clean and most 

importantly many 

of the parts of the 

pump that pick up 

dirt normally have 

been hidden, like 

for example the hoses on the 6000 model, 

which are concealed in a casing when the 

pump is not in use. This also makes the unit 

visually more appealing. The large digital 

readout of fuel price and litres dispensed is 


wayNE – sPECIaL FEatuRE 

purposely located close to the multimedia 

screen, to avoid customers forgetting that 

they are refueling their car whilst watching 

a trailer for the latest block buster movie”. 

Lise-Lotte 

Nordholm, 

Dispenser 

Product 

Manager 

i asked her which one of these dispensers 

i should choose if i was to open up a new 

petrol station requiring four pumps. Quick 

as a flash she said “The great thing about 

the Helix range is that you can start off with 

the more basic model and as circumstances 

change, you can bolt on all the special features, 

like a payment terminal or multimedia 

functions when the time is right to do so”. 

Flexibility could be yet another strong feature 

of this inter-changable product range but her 

answer did seem to suggest she had drawn 

a conclusion from looking at my suit, that 

i would not be able to afford the Helix ‘M’ 

edition straight away. 

if i was buying petrol pumps i would certainly 

consider the Helix range as it looks stylish, 

robust, technologically advanced and welcoming. 

Wing mirrors on the side of dispensers 

is something Annika and lise-lotte might 

think about in the future, as a way of assisting 

some customers who experience parking 

difficultes. No genders mentioned. 

Apart from that though, everything else seems 

to have been thought about and it was indeed 

a very refreshing pleasure to meet two people 

who clearly have such a large part to play in 

Wayne’s future success. As they told me on 

my way out, they are already working on their 

next big project. it would be interesting to 

see what they can do with a car wash. 

More details about Wayne Helix Fuel Dispensers 

can be found at www.waynehelix.com 

23

24 


aLTERNaTiVEfUeL News 

Biofuel production 2.6 billion gallons by 2015 

in the uS a new report from Environmental 

Entrepreneurs has revealed that biofuel 

production capacity increased by 250 million 

gallons in 2012 compared to 2011. The 

report also states that that the industry in the 

united States and Canada has the potential to 

produce up to 2.6 billion gallons of renewable 

fuel by 2015. Environmental Entrepreneurs, 

which focused on 165 companies active in 

Eu to amend biofuel targets 

European union authorities have said that they 

may cap the amount of crop biofuels available 

for use after coming to the conclusion that 

they are not as effective in cutting emissions 

as first thought, and that in future biofuel crop 

cultivation may interfere with food stocks. The 

change in attitude marks a u-turn from previous 

targets, which aimed to have 10 percent 

of the region’s vehicles running on biofuels 

by the year 2020, when current legislation 

the production of advanced biofuels and 82 

companies involved in the supply chain for its 

report, also points out that production costs of 

advanced biofuels will continue to decrease as 

commercial capacity is expanded. it highlights 

that at capacity, companies involved in the 

study have plans to produce at between $0.60 

and $ 3.50 per gallon, depending on feedstock 

and technology. 

expires. The figure, which now stands around 

4.5 percent, is set to be limited at 5 percent. 

Despite its change of mind on biofuels, Eu 

authorities are still planning to proceed with 

the implementation of schemes aimed at 

increasing the amount of advanced biofuels 

on the market, as the fuels – generated from 

sources such as algae and crop residue – have 

no influence over food prices and are thought 

to be more environmentally friendly. 

Microalgae plant to begin operations 

The world’s first commercially viable microalgae 

production facility has opened its developers 

Renewed World Energies and Forsite Development 

have announced. The system, an Algae 

Photo Bioreactor, will enable a 667-acre site in 

ReVenture eco-industrial park, in Charlotte, South 

Carolina to power its electronics and machinery 

the developers have said, while it may also be 

used to create a viable fuel for transport. The 

facility was funded by RWE’s majority shareholder, 

Aventura Equities, based in Chicago. The 

company says that it may use patents it holds for 

algae development to create new strains that are 

capable of creating other transportation fuels 

and health supplements. The new facility was 

developed on an old textile dye facility. 

Conversion kits for petrol & hydrogen 

Fuel cells aren’t the only way of using hydrogen 

to power cars. Three years ago, iTM Power 

launched a pioneering collaboration with 

automotive technology business Revolve 

Technologies to develop a conversion kit that 

allows a conventional internal combustion 

engine to run on hydrogen as well as petrol. 

The company has also run a series of trials 

with blue chip companies and local authori- 

ties, using its transportable high pressure 

hydrogen refuelling unit and Ford Transit vans, 

modified to run on hydrogen as well as petrol, 

by Revolve. organisations were offered free 

fuel and the use of two modified Transits for 

a week, with the option to lease the refuelling 

unit and the vehicles for a further period, if 

they wanted to extend the test. As interest 

rose, more companies wanted to run tests. 

Hydrogen fuel infrastructure gets boost in Germany 

Automakers focusing on hydrogen-powered 

vehicles have plans to commercialize their new 

products between the years 2013 and 2015. A 

comprehensive hydrogen fuel infrastructure 

is needed for this commercialization to gain 

traction. Germany has made the most progress 

in developing an adequate structure and now 

Air liquide has announced the opening of 

Germany’s first hydrogen fuel station designed 

for passenger vehicles. The station is the first 

of 10 new fuel stations that the company will 

open over the next three years. 

NEws 

airbus hopes to utilise 

renewable fuels 

Airbus has announced that it hopes a project 

it undertook with a Chinese university will 

help to decrease the amount of time it will 

take airlines and others in the aviation industry 

to begin utilising renewable fuels, saying 

that cooking oil, crops and other feedstocks 

are suitable for use. A report on the benefits 

of algae use is due next year, it said. “The 

commercialisation of alternative fuels is one 

of the essential ingredients in our quest to 

achieving ambitious environmental targets 

in aviation”, said Frederic Eychenne, new 

Energies Programme Manager for Airbus. 

Patriot Bioenergy plan 

new energy complex 

Patriot Bioenergy Corporation has said that it 

intends to begin work on a new energy complex 

in Kentucky that will see sugar converted 

into useable fuel. The company says the work 

on the new complex will take place over the 

next 24 to 48 months, and that natural gas 

will be used in the initial stages of the energy 

creation process. The company has been 

growing energy beets (which it will be using 

to generate power in the plant) for the past 

few months in order to test conditions. The 

company has yet to be signed off on planning 

permission by the state’s planning authorities, 

while some funding and materials details are 

also yet to be agreed. 

Carbon dioxide could 

become fuel 

American scientists are trying to trick a soil 

bacterium into making fuel. Researchers 

at Massachusetts institute of Technology 

(MiT) are attempting to modify the genes 

of Ralstonia eutropha to produce isobutanol 

that can be used instead of gasoline/petrol. 

The microbe has a tendency to stop growing 

and to use its energy to make complex carbon 

compounds, so scientists are attempting to get 

it to use carbon dioxide as its source, so it can 

make fuel from emissions. Research scientist 

Christopher Brigham, has been developing 

the bioengineered bacterium. By removing 

some genes, inserting a gene from a different 

organism and altering the expression of other 

genes, Brigham and his team redirected the 

microbe to create fuel rather than plastic. 

latest LatEst news, aLtERNatIvE events, FuEL jobs NEws online – www.PEtROLPLaza.COM – www.PetrolPlaza.com 

25

american Natural Retail 

agrees takeover 

American Natural Retail has agreed a price for 

the takeover of Mon Valley Petroleum, which 

runs 15 Buy-N-Fly fuel service stations in 

Pennsylvania. The price of the deal was not 

disclosed, but is thought to be in the region of 

uS $ 2 million. The transaction is in keeping 

with American Natural Retail’s aim to expand 

its network through the purchase of upmarket 

fuel and convenience outlets. All of the stations 

purchased are contracted to supply either 

BP or Exxon fuel. American Natural Retail is 

known to target stations with already installed 

compressed natural gas pumps. 

LukOIL stations sell 

fuel at us $ 9 gallon 

omar Kezbari, co-owner of a luKoil gas 

station on Route 73 in Mount laurel, posted 

prices telling motorists he’s charging an astounding 

uS $ 9.99 a gallon of gas. Kezbari 

is taking part of a protest by some luKoil 

franchise stations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania 

against their parent company by posting 

ridiculously high prices. “We’re just trying 

to send a message to luKoil”, an angered 

Kezbari said. “Their cost is very high, and so 

our cost on the market is higher than anyone 

else at the retail level.” More than 50 franchise 

owners plan to raise their prices to more than 

uS $ 8 a gallon to protest what they say is the 

company’s unjustified pricing policies. 

Gulf E85 Ethanol 

fueling station opens 

Gulf oil has opened an E85 ethanol fuelling 

station at the Charlton East Service Plaza on 

the Massachusetts Turnpike (i-90) to serve 

flex-fuel vehicles. The Massachusetts Department 

of Transportation and the Executive 

office of Energy and Environmental Affairs 

partnered with Gulf to complete the project. 

This facility is one of four new Gulf E85 stations 

planned for the Mass Pike, the company says. 

“We are proud to be among the first to open 

alternative fuelling locations”, says Ron Sabia, 

Gulf’s President and Chief operating officer. 

“We look forward to the day when we can offer 

more choices, primarily from our domestic 

sources, such as E85, biodiesel, compressed 

natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas 

(lNG).” The company notes that there are 

currently more than 100 000 flex-fuel vehicles 

registered in Massachusetts. 

usa News 

PEI / NaCs 2012 – Las vegas 7th – 10th October 2012 

it’s the one location on the three location 

circuit of NACS, that everyone seems to 

make the effort to attend. Most people will 

tell you that Chicago is their favourite place 

to go and everyone will tell you that Atlanta 

is a place nobody wants to go, but secretly, 

the lure of bars, international entertainment 

and staying out until the early hours of the 

morning gambling, makes Vegas the top 

convention for PEi members. it will mostly 

be the same booths, in the same positions, 

the same carpet and often the same people 

who were there in 2009, but none of that 

will detract from the pre event buzz which 

is generated everytime the event comes to 

the uSA’s primary showcase city. 

European exhibitors include from Germany; 

Steel pipe manufacturer Brugg 

on booth 6123, offering Pipes, Diesel 

Exhaust Fluid & Equipment, Fuel oil 

Handling Equipment, leak Detection and 

Monitoring equipment. Horn Tecalemit 

on Booth 6033, exhibiting for the first 

time presenting a diverse product portfolio, 

for the measurement, management and 

dispensing of liquids and gases and PWM 

on Booth 3725, exhibiting price signs and 

Point-of-Sale, Software/Hardware. From 

the uK, Tokheim on Booth 4916 will be 

showing Petroleum Dispensers, Displays 

for Gas Pumps, PoS Systems and Point- 

wright Express acquires Fleet One 

Wright Express Corp., a business payment 

processor based in South Portland, has made 

its second acquisition in as many weeks. The 

company announced it has reached a deal 

to purchase Fleet one from private equity 

firms llR Partners and FTV Capital for 

uS $ 369 million in cash. Fleet one, based 

in Antioch, Tenn., provides fuel cards and 

fleet management services to companies that 

operate local trucking fleets, as well as those 

that provide long-range trucking services. 

26 

LatEst NEws, LatEst EvENts, usa NEws jOBs – ONLINE www.PEtROLPLaza.COM 

– www.PEtROLPLaza.COM 

of-Sale Software/Hardware together with 

Fibrelite on Booth 6337, which has offices 

based in the uS, exhibiting Dispenser Pans, 

Manholes, Secondary Containment, Spill 

Containment and Sumps. Sweden is rep re- 

sented by polyethelene pipe manufacturer 

KPS on Booth 4418 displaying it’s new 

double walled fittings, tank chamber and 

pipe systems. Nupi Americas on Booth 

5213 is italy’s only participant, focussing on 

SMARTFlEX, its High Density Polyethylene 

(HDPE) thermoplastic piping systems. Show 

highlights include their Smart lPG system 

for the conveyance of lPG. From Portugal, 

Petrotec – Booth on 6601 are exhibiting 

Car Wash Equipment, Diesel Exhaust 

Fluid & Equipment, Petroleum Dispensers, 

PoS Systems and Vapour Recovery Equipment. 

Finally SloanLED on Booth 5621 

from The Netherlands, showcasing their 

Progressive Series Canopy Down light, 

refrigeration lighting and options for parking 

lot and open space lighting. 

The convention runs from october 7–10, 

although bear in mind the exhibition does 

not open on Sunday 7th. Trade show opening 

hours are 11.30 am – 5.30 pm, Monday 

and Tuesday and on Wednesday they are 

9.00am to 1.30pm. 

More details can be found on www.pei.org 

it has 210 000 active fuel cards, which are 

accepted at 60 000 locations. it posted revenue 

in excess of uS $ 56 million in the 12 months 

ending 30th June, 2012, according to a media 

release from Wright Express. Wright Express 

have also announced the acquisition of a 

51-percent stake in uNiK S.A., a privately 

held Brazilian company that provides payroll 

cards and other payment processing services 

for the retail, government and transportation 

sectors, for uS $ 21.9 million.

www.alucobond.com 

www.bennettpump.com 

LED under Canopy Illumination Display 

www.beverinnovations.com 

www.brugg.de 

www.cree.com 

www.plxpipe.com 

www.elaflex.de 

www.eurotank.eu.com 

www.gilbarco.eu 

www.hectronic.com 

Inventory Control Management 

Dispensing systems 

www.tecalemit.de 

www.iisltd.com 

www.fuelspricing.com 

www.integration.co.nz 

the kärcher car wash system. 

www.kaercher.com 

www.kpsystem.com 

www.kubald.com 

www.leightonobrien.com 

www.mepsan.com.tr 

www.mueller-offenburg.de 

www.novyc.com 

Pipe and fitting systems 

www.nupigeco.com 

Integrated Coating & Monitoring systems 

www.ono-oil.com 

www.petrotec.eu 


wEBsItEs aND LOGOs – suPPORtING ERPECNEws 

® 

www.psdcodax.com 

www.pwm.com 

www.scheidt-bachmann.com 

Leak Prevention 

www.sgb.de 

www.sloanled.com 

www.tanknology.com 

In Innovation, In Reliable services 

www.tatsuno.co.jp/english/ 

www.tokheim.com 

www.torex.com 

worldwide producer vehicle washing equipment 

www.washtec.de 

www.dresserwayne.com 

*' 

www.wincor-nixdorf.com 

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

27

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