Erpec News

Engen plans to take over bP assets in African countries
Growing oil company Engen plans to take over
the assets of its rival, BP, in the countries from
which BP is pulling out. BP announced last
month that it will be pulling out of five southern
african countries as a result of a strategic
review. a top Engen official said the company
will take advantage of this opportunity and
buy BP assets as part of its expansion strategy
and penetration into new markets. “We’re
on a growth programme and they’re selling
assets”, Wayne Hartmann, Engen’s General
Manager for international business, said in
an interview in Cape Town. “We’re very small
in Tanzania and missing in Malawi.” While
some of its rivals are reducing activities in
africa, Engen has a “positive outlook” on the
continent and rolled out a record 30 sites last
year, Hartmann said. While the company has
a “healthy balance sheet”, a stock exchange
listing to fund acquisitions has not been ruled
out, he said. Engen, which has 40 filling stations
across Botswana, is already listed on the
Botswana Stock Exchange’s foreign board and
is the third largest oil company in Botswana
Shell sells New zealand fuel retailing assets
Royal Dutch Shell Plc agreed to sell its New
Zealand fuel-retailing assets to Infratil ltd. and
the New Zealand government pension fund for
NZ $ 696.5 million (US $ 492 million) to focus
on oil and gas production. The parties have
been in exclusive talks since November. Shell,
Europe’s biggest oil company, is selling its New
Zealand fuel-retailing and refining interests as
vietnam fuel companies given more pricing freedom
Vietnamese fuel traders have been given more
autonomy in adjusting prices based on market
supply and demand, but the government will
continue to oversee their pricing, an official
informed. “It’s not correct to say the government
has given fuel companies the right to
set prices on their own”, Deputy Industry and
Trade Minister Nguyen Cam Tu said. “Fuel
companies are only allowed to decide prices
SPAr signs deal over d-Store POS solution in South
Africa with POS Systemhaus from Austria
SPaR (South africa) has signed a deal to
implement D-Store, the POS software solution
from austrian company POS Systemhaus,
across its international store network. Initially,
the checkout software will be installed at all
newly-opened outlets beginning this year. In
addition, all retailers already associated with
the group both in South africa and abroad
with their approximately 7 000 cash registers
will be equipped with the new software within
after BP and Shell. In a statement last week,
BP africa CEO, Sipho Maseko, said he was
confident the businesses they are looking to
sell will offer good value and great potential
to a purchaser, particularly given the strong
economic outlook of the region as whole. “a
new owner can build on our good assets and
grow the business further”, he said. “all of our
operations are leading marketing businesses
with strong market shares, well-run operations,
experienced and capable employees and strong
health and safety performance.”
BP, which has been in africa for over 80
years, has been operating in Botswana as an
independent company since 1975 when it split
from Shell. BP Botswana has over 40 retail
sites across the country where it has been
competing with Shell, Engen, Caltex and Total.
If Engen takes over BP in Botswana, it stands
to enjoy the latter’s wide range of customers
and contracts, among them Debswana, BCl,
BDF, the government’s Central Transport
Organisation, as well as big construction firms
and transport companies.
part of a global focus on production in expanding
markets. Infratil’s purchase makes it the
nation’s biggest fuel retailer at a time when low
returns are driving out independent operators
and prompting global players to review their
interests. The Shell assets comprise 229 filling
stations, 95 truck stops, port terminals and a
17 percent stake in New Zealand Refining Co.
to a certain extent.” Since December 15 last
year, the government has allowed fuel traders
to raise pump prices automatically without
seeking government consent if world prices rise
by seven percent or more. Tu’s comment last
week was in response to a question as to why,
after the deregulation, the Finance Ministry
last month still asked fuel traders to temporarily
halt all price hikes to control inflation.
the next three to five years. The announcement
comes after a successful 12 month run of pilot
installations. Enno Stelma, CIO of SPaR
(South africa), said the software’s “wide base
of installations convinced us that D-Store is
absolutely applicable for the african market.”
The software will be used in combination with
Windows XP and Windows 7. D-Store is also
deployed by SPaR austria and in all country
operations of German Rewe Group.
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downstream strategies
of ExxonMobil
in New zealand
a shake-up in petrol station ownership
looks set to continue as global oil giant
ExxonMobil continues to investigate the
potential sale of its New Zealand distribution
and retailing, or downstream, business.
Two parties are looking at ExxonMobil’s
downstream operations, which include 183
petrol stations and a 19.2 percent stake
in the country’s only oil refinery, the New
Zealand Refining Company.
Smartflex piping systems
selected by both
Oman Oil and ENOC
Smartflex has been selected by Oman
Oil for its double wall fully coaxial piping
and fittings system, which the company
says has the latest international and
local approvals. It has also been chosen by
ENOC for their new sites in Dubai and
neighbouring areas.
OPw opens new manufacturing
facility in India
OPW Fueling Components have announced
the opening of its newest manufacturing
facility in Chennai, India. This state-ofthe-art
manufacturing facility is, the company
says, part of OPW’s global expansion
strategy and demonstrates commitment
to localize its presence in the markets it
serves. President David Crouse said “This
is a proud moment for our company as it
represents our dedication to align ourselves
as close as possible to the customers we
serve. With this new manufacturing facility,
we will be able vastly enhance our customer
service levels.”
bahrain: Privatisation
plans are unveiled
Petrol stations owned by Bapco in Bahrain
could be tendered to the private
sector at the end of the year, according
to Economic Development Board chief
executive Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa
al Khalifa. Bahrain also plans to privatise
the country’s loss-making carrier Gulf air
and other public services like hospitals
and waste management companies, as
it seeks to diversify its economy from oil
and build up a viable private sector and
a tax-based economy.
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