Two petrol stations have been raided and seven men and two women from across southern England have been arrested for their involvement in a suspected £3m fuel fraud, during an operation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Around 170 HMRC officers, assisted by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) and Sussex and Hampshire Police, searched 12 residential premises, five business premises and two petrol stations in East and West Sussex, Kent, Essex, Hampshire and Somerset.
The investigation is focused on the suspected illegal purchase and sale of rebated kerosene and biofuel to motorists as duty-paid road diesel. It is believed the fraud is worth an estimated £3m in unpaid excise duty and VAT.
All those arrested were questioned by HMRC investigators and released on bail while enquiries continue.
Meanwhile, in Co Tyrone, a man and a woman have been arrested and nearly 8,000 litres of fuel seized as part of an ongoing HMRC investigation into a suspected VAT and excise fraud worth an estimated £300,000.
HMRC officers, accompanied by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, searched a private address and a retail site in the Cookstown area where they seized computers and business records linked to the fraud investigation.
And a woman has been arrested after a laundering plant, capable of producing nearly 3.6 million litres of illicit fuel a year and evading over £2 million in lost duty and taxes, was discovered by HMRC officers during a search of domestic premises in Co Armagh. Four tonnes of toxic waste was safely removed from the site.
Phillips 66 staff prepare for the Grand Union Canal Challenge
Phillips 66 has raised vital funds for ILEAP, a South Warwickshire charity that provides inclusive community-based leisure activities for vulnerable children and adults with additional needs.
In July a team from Phillips 66 took part in the Grand Union Canal Challenge, raising a total of £6,300 for the charity. Twenty seven employees faced the tough challenge of walking, cycling, or kayaking 60 miles along the canal in just 24 hours. The distance of 60 miles was chosen because 2014 marks the 60th anniversary of JET, the fuel brand of Phillips 66.
Peter Bazeley, ILEAP manager, said: “The money raised by Phillips 66 will pay for the 2014 ILEAP summer holiday activity programme, providing over 100 disabled people with personalised activities throughout summer.”
Pete George, managing director, Phillips 66 UK & Ireland marketing, added: “We pride ourselves in giving back to our local communities. It’s part of our legacy and identity as a company. Here at our Warwick office we strongly believe in giving back to our communities in various ways. ILEAP provides fantastic support to families throughout the region so we were delighted to donate all the funds raised through our Grand Union Canal Challenge to this very worthy cause.”www.phillips66.com
Jeremy Hawksley, director general, OFTEC
Targets set out in the impact assessment produced by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) state that Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) will support around 750,000 renewable heat installations by 2020 – that is approximately 10,800 new accreditations per month.
Latest figures from OFGEM show that since the RHI was launched in April, 5,158 renewable heating systems have been accredited under the scheme. At the current rate of take up, DECC’s goal of 10,800 new accreditations per month looks unrealistic.
According to OFTEC, a simple, all-inclusive boiler scrappage scheme would go much further than the costly and complex RHI in helping the government achieve its ambitious goal of 80% less carbon emissions by 2050. This is because it would appeal to a far wider audience.
Jeremy Hawksley, director general at OFTEC, comments: “Even before the RHI was launched, we voiced concerns that the scheme would suffer the same fate as the Green Deal. RHI payments only come into play once the renewable heating system has been installed and the average consumer simply cannot afford to get started due to the high upfront costs of between £8,000 and £19,000 to install these technologies.
“Whilst we recognise that the initial take-up of any such scheme is often low and that momentum may build, there is going to have to be an enormous surge of interest in the RHI to meet government targets. We are doubtful that with such a costly and complex scheme this will happen.”
Jeremy Hawksley continues: “What the country needs is a simple, accessible scheme which consumers can really get to grips with. We already know that a boiler scrappage scheme works as a similar initiative in 2010 saw 120,000 old, inefficient boilers replaced.”
OFTEC’s concern about lack of interest in the domestic RHI is supported by a recent survey conducted by OFTEC and Watson Petroleum of 750 oil heated homes. This revealed that just 4% would consider switching to an air source heat pump, with 73% choosing to upgrade to a new oil condensing boiler.
Jeremy Hawksley concludes: “The government needs to think again and instead of pushing expensive renewables which will only appeal to the wealthy few, it should channel its resources into realistic boiler upgrade schemes that will encourage millions of home owners to take simple yet effective energy efficiency measures which will collectively make a greater contribution to CO2 reduction targets.”
OFTEC’s view that only the relatively wealthy can afford the high initial investment. As such it’s clearly a regressive policy. This is important because rural dwellers and, by extension oil heating users, contain a higher proportion of people living in fuel poverty than the population as a whole. So the people who most need help to upgrade and improve their energy efficiency are effectively prevented from accessing RHI because the upfront cost is unaffordable – exacerbated because their homes are often difficult to improve. By contrast, the scrappage scheme that we advocate would be much cheaper both for homeowners and for government to implement and more likely to be successful as a result.
The UK will guarantee a 230-million-pound ($394 million) loan for an upgrade of Ineos AG’s petrochemical plant at Grangemouth in Scotland, protecting jobs ahead of September’s independence referendum.
The loan guarantee will allow Ineos to start work immediately on building Europe’s biggest ethane storage tank.
“The Grangemouth guarantee is fantastic news for Scotland’s economic future, and for the UK’s energy security,” said chief secretary to the treasury, Danny Alexander. “Our action is creating the right conditions for more investment in our infrastructure, helping to build a stronger economy and a fairer society across the country.”
The loan will secure thousands of jobs, and the work is vital if the refinery is to continue operating after 2017, says the treasury. The announcement comes as ministers are seeking to press the benefits of Scotland staying part of the UK ahead of the September 18th independence referendum.
Alexander, who represents a Scottish seat in the House of Commons, and chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, have repeatedly made the economic case for the union.
Ineos, a British company which relocated to Switzerland for tax purposes, is pioneering the import of cheaper ethane from the US as North Sea production wanes and higher energy and feedstock costs squeeze commodity chemical producers in western Europe. The Grangemouth plant, the company’s biggest, combines both chemical production and oil refining.
MFG managing director, Jeremy Clarke
Motor Fuel Group (MFG) has signed an agreement to purchase the retail assets of Murco Petroleum Limited (Murco), which is scheduled to close by the end of September.
Jeremy Clarke, managing director, MFG said: “We are delighted with this exciting transaction. The signing of this agreement supports our stated objective to grow Motor Fuel Group into a significant force in the UK forecourt sector.”
MFG currently operates 60 stations throughout the UK. Operating primarily under the BP and Jet fuel brands, the company also offers the Costcutter brand at forecourts.
The acquisition of Murco will add another 228 company stations to the MFG network and a 200 plus dealer network to the Group. All of these stations will continue to offer fuel under the Murco brand. The forecourt shops on the Murco company station network also operate under the Costcutter brand. www.motorfuelgroup.com
OPW has signed an agreement to acquire all the outstanding shares of Liquip International.
David Crouse, OPW president of OPW, commented: “The acquisition of Liquip is another important step in the global growth strategy of OPW. Liquip significantly strengthens OPW’s fluid handling position in Australia and throughout Asia Pacific. By combining our products, we create a truly best in class product portfolio meeting the unique requirements of our chemical and industrial and tank truck customers.”
Liquip expects to generate revenue of approximately USD $40 million in 2014. The transaction is subject to certain customary and other closing conditions, and is expected to close in the third quarter.
Lubricants supplier, Seletar Services, is relaunching its Great Yarmouth site following an investment of more than £250,000 to develop new office and depot facilities.
Seletar Services – part of Certas Energy – hosted an open day recently to show customers, including Boston Putford, Shell Exploration, Seajacks and Air Products, the improvements which have been made since the site was first acquired in February 2012.
Ross Buckland, head of lubricants at Certas Energy, said: “The investment in the site is testament to our commitment to maintaining a long-term presence at our Great Yarmouth base, in order to provide the best possible service to our customers.
“The open day was a great opportunity to catch up with our customers in person and show them the work we’ve done.”
Seletar Services is one of the largest stockists and suppliers of all lubricants used in the wind farm and oil and gas industries operating in the southern North Sea.
The marine division of Certas has depots in many major UK ports, including the Isle of Wight, Port of Tyne, Isle of Man, Orkney, Southampton and Shetland Islands. It also has facilities in Aberdeen, on the Thames, in Dundee, and in Oban, as well as a nationwide delivery infrastructure.
As reported in July, Essar’s 1000 employees at the Stanlow Oil Refinery are being offered a voluntary severance package, now rumoured to be worth a fixed-sum of £30,000.
All employees will be offered the “leaver incentive” package, but not all “volunteers” will be accepted by management.
“The offer is available to all employees, but will be granted on a discretionary basis, dependent on the right blend of skills and experience required to help us build a positive and long term future for our business,” said Ian Cotton, head of communications and community for Essar Oil (UK) Ltd.
In a statement explaining the move, Mr Cotton said: “Essar Oil UK announced in February our intention to increase the production of higher value products from the Stanlow refinery by closing the smaller of our two crude refining units later this year.
“As a result of this optimised configuration going forward, organisational changes may be required to create additional efficiencies.
“Before considering any changes, Essar Oil UK has, in conjunction with a proposal from a specially formed Joint Working Group of employees from across the company, decided to offer an entirely voluntary leaver incentive scheme to staff who may be considering alternative options for their future career.
“The amount on offer is a fixed sum to all employees – but we consider that detail confidential between ourselves and our staff.”
Essar have denied reports it intends to sell Britain’s second largest oil refinery, which it bought from Shell in 2011 for $350 million. The refinery supplies around 15 per cent of the UK’s transport fuels, which equates to an annual production of more than two billion litres of jet fuel, three billion litres of petrol and 3.5 billion litres of diesel. It also processes over 11 million tonnes of crude oil each year.
The company, part of the Indian Essar Group, said refining margins had been “exceptionally poor” but stressed its commitment to working in the region and in the UK.
Gulf Aviation supplies fuel at airports throughout the UK
Gulf Aviation, part of national fuel and lubricants supplier Certas Energy, has significantly extended its presence in Scotland after securing fuel supply contracts with Lufthansa, Virgin Airways and Thomas Cook at Aberdeen International, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports.
The deal with Germany’s national carrier also includes fuel supply to three other major airlines, which are owned by or affiliated to Lufthansa, operating at the Scottish airports – Brussels Airlines, Germanwings, Edelweiss and Austrian Airlines.
Alex Murphy, head of Gulf Aviation, said: “Our contracts with Lufthansa and Thomas Cook are the latest in a series of significant contract wins, which have seen us extend our scope in the commercial aviation industry across the UK among national and international airlines. This new deal will give us an increased presence in three major Scottish airports, and we intend to build on this success going forward.”
The contracts are the latest in a series of Scotland-based wins for the company, whose client base in the country now includes Norwegian ASA, Flybe, Stobart Air, EasyJet, Monarch Airlines and Loganair.
Gulf Aviation’s wider fuel supply portfolio currently includes London City Airport, Blackpool International Airport and City of Derry Airport.www.gulfaviation.co.uk
Millbrook will exhibit its extensive range of facilities and capabilities at this year’s Low Carbon Vehicle event on 10-11 September 2014.
The annual event, which attracts visitors from across the globe and combines a technology exhibition, Ride & Drive, networking activities and an extensive seminar programme, is the ideal forum for the business to reinforce its message that there is more to Millbrook and to demonstrate to current and potential new customers its full service offering.
Millbrook’s engineers perform repeatable tests on all types of vehicles in a secure and safe environment. With a range of facilities for components and full vehicles, the company can perform tests using engine dynamometers, environmental chambers, crash laboratories and advanced emissions testing systems.
CEO, Alex Burns, says: “Our extensive laboratory facilities, 70km of varied test tracks, including hill routes, high speed areas and challenging off road courses and 45 years’ of engineering, test and validation experience, makes Millbrook an ideal partner at any stage in the development and launch of the vehicles of tomorrow.
“We have some exciting plans for the future of Millbrook, including a new technology park and upgraded engine test facilities and I look forward to sharing these forthcoming investments with visitors at LCV.”
www.millbrook.co.uk
www.cenex-lcv.co.uk
