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