LQM Petroleum Services believes that female leadership should be a priority for maritime businesses – particularly in the bunker industry – where women make up just nine per cent of senior positions.
Ahead of the set-up of Consumer Scotland in late 2021, UKIFDA has submitted its views on the Scottish Government consultation on the Energy Consumers Commission’s first work plan covering 2020-2021.
North West-based Crown Oil has strengthened its brand in the North West after acquiring an £18m-turnover oil supplier.
The Greater Manchester company, part of the £420m-turnover Crown Oil family of companies, has completed the purchase of Stockport-based Star Oil for an undisclosed sum. This deal for the 20-year-old business will increase Bury-headquartered Crown Oil’s reach in the region and take staff numbers to more than 1,250.
Star Oil, set up by Christian Hatherall and Michael Doyle, has seven tankers covering the North West and supplies fuel, oil and lubricants to industrial operations, farms and homes. Christian and Star’s 10 staff will remain with the business, while Michael will seek new opportunities elsewhere. The business will continue to trade as Star Oil for the time being.
The deal is Crown Oil’s first purchase since 2018, when it added Birlem Oil, in London, and West Midlands-based Beesley Fuels to its portfolio. The business, established by the Greensmith family more than 70 years ago, had worked with Star Oil for some time when the opportunity arose.
Matthew Greensmith, managing director of Crown Oil Group, said:
“We’re excited to have announced this deal, which will see the Crown Oil family expanding once again. Star has been around for 20 years and, in that time, has built up a fantastic reputation for great service, which will fit in with Crown’s ideology of putting the customer first.
“We’ve worked closely with Christian and Michael and we were keen to take up this opportunity to safeguard the future of Star and strengthen our North West footprint. We are looking forward to building on these successes together and we wish Michael all the best for the future.”
Christian Hatherall, who will be senior operations manager of the business, said:
“I am delighted to see the completion of this deal, which has come about from the solid relationship we have built with Crown over the years. I look forward to seeing the business flourish and grow. Being part of that growth journey and working for the Crown Oil Group brand is a very exciting prospect for me.”
The board of Essar Oil UK Ltd has announced the appointment of Stein Ivar Bye, former boss of Sweden’s largest fuel firm, as chief executive officer.
Leaving behind his job as chief operating officer at Scandinavian crude oil giant Preem, Stein Ivar Bye will be based at Essar’s Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. He brings with him over 28 years’ experience in the Oil and Energy sector, working internationally across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Stein, who graduated from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and has an MBA in Business Strategy and Management from BI Norwegian Business School, previously spent 25 years with ExxonMobil and was latterly chief operating officer at Preem.
An experienced executive leader in multicultural and international environments, Stein has an impressive track record in refinery operations, coupled with broad experience in supply and trading, strategy and planning and business development.
Mr Bye is the second new CEO to take charge at Essar since the start of the year. In January, it was announced that ex-BP boss Mark Wilson had replaced Srinivasalu Thangapandian. Essar said on Monday that Mr Wilson left in June under a “mutual agreement” with the firm after less than six months in the role.
Speaking about the latest appointment, Prashant Ruia, non-executive chairman, Essar Oil UK, said;
“As an organisation, our sights are firmly set on transforming our UK business, ensuring its growth and long term sustainability as we transition towards a low carbon energy economy and deliver the energy solutions of the future for Britain. Stein will be pivotal in meeting this challenge and fulfilling this ambition.”
Stein Ivar Bye added;
“I am honoured to be selected as CEO for Essar Oil UK and excited to be part of Essar’s transformational journey. Society’s demand for efficient and sustainable energy solutions is an inspiring challenge and will require creativity and perseverance. With the collective competency and commitment of the Essar organisation, and strong stakeholder engagement, I am confident Essar Oil UK will be a part of the solution for the future.”
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Now operating on over 250 trucks in the UK and Ireland, the additional benefits that OptiMate brings fuel oil operatives, in terms of saving time, money and preventing fuel contaminations, are behind MechTronic’s recent success in both Northern Ireland and Ireland.
OptiMate is a revolutionary and futureproof system that is developed to meet changing customer demands. Launched in 2016, Optimate has become the electronic metering system of choice as fuel oil operatives face increasing pressure to deliver multiple fuel grades to a wide range of customers within a timely manner. Its unique self-draining manifold ensures the manifold is clear of product before starting a line change and prevents a contamination.
Brad Wilkie, sales and marketing manager at MechTronic said;
“As a family business, MechTronic listens to our customers changing requirements and we are proud that our latest update supports fuel oil operatives to deliver fuel by hose/bulk or gravity – regardless of the delivery, OptiMate will ensure the delivery is metered and accounted for.”
Northern Ireland has the largest percentage of domestic homes using heating oil in Western Europe and, in Ireland, 40% of all homes rely on home-heating oil. In July 2019, heating oil prices reached their highest levels since 2014, following four consecutive years of growth. Naturally Covid-19 has impacted oil prices this year however, with more people staying at home, the demand for home heating oil is increasing and prices rising.
This growth over the last four years has helped fuel oil operatives to invest in their fleet and move towards metering systems that don’t just simply meter fuel but offer additional benefits to the fuel oil operative.
A range of automatic processes to prevent contamination include Optimate’s unique automatic line change procedure where it automatically empties the manifold before introducing the new product and delivers the optimum line change quantity every time. Automatically recognising different line change volumes removes the requirement for drivers to manually calculate volumes and, with busy schedules, drivers may potentially overcompensate in their calculation, resulting in lost revenue.
The flexibility to automatically perform a pre-determined line change or return product quickly without the threat of contamination saves both time and money
Fuel oil operatives invest in OptiMate
In 2018, Lissan Coal Company (LCC Oil) was the first fuel oil operative in Northern Ireland to purchase four OptiMate systems closely followed by Murphy Oils, McLean Fuels and Holden Fuels.
Michael Moran, operations director at LCC said;
“The automatic processes that OptiMate offers in terms of line change protocol was of particular interest to us. We were also impressed by the simplicity of OptiMate and that it can be controlled by just three buttons. It also offers our drivers the ability to amend their route to meet changing customer requirements without worrying about performing a line change.”
More recently, fuel oil operatives in Ireland are also making the decision to move to OptiMate with Dundalk Oil, Atlantic Oils and Stewart Oils all placing (and receiving) orders in 2020.
Barry Finlay at Dundalk Oil said;
“We are delighted to be the first fuel oil operative within Ireland to be out delivering with OptiMate. We chose OptiMate as we liked the automatic processes that it offers. Drivers have already commented on how easy the system is to use, and how they are able to make deliveries quicker due to the automatic line changes.”
A recent report released by UKPIA claims that the UK downstream oil sector is already playing a significant role in meeting societal targets for decarbonisation and is capable and willing to do more to reach net zero.
The ground-breaking report, titled “Transition, Transformation, and Innovation: Our role in the Net-Zero Challenge”, looks at credible scenarios and proposes an illustrative pathway for the UK downstream sector to achieve government mandated net zero targets, with practical policy solutions to help overcome this challenge.
Transition, Transformation, and Innovation makes three key findings:
New independent research, commissioned by GripHero, has revealed that 66% of drivers are aware that Covid-19 can be passed from driver-to-driver at the fuel pump, driving demand for hand protection. With 86% of drivers now actively looking for hand protection, forecourt owners are being advised that failing to provide suitable hand protection could impact business.
Conducted in October 2020, the survey of 2,000 drivers throughout the UK showed that concerns over health and the potential transmission of Covid-19 at the fuel pump have led to a change in motorists’ forecourt preferences. 74% of motorists are now more likely to wear hand protection than before the pandemic began, with 85% saying that they would now travel further to a forecourt where hand protection is readily available, over a closer alternative without.
That could have significant implications for forecourts that are unable to provide drivers with readily available hand protection and could lead to a loss of valuable income from retail outlets.
Since the survey was last carried out in 2017, the largest change was the increased number of drivers that said that they would now always wear hand protection – if it were readily available – rising from 19% to 83% of all drivers. That sends a clear message to forecourt owners that hand protection is now a major factor influencing where drivers fill up.
Oli Yeo, inventor and managing director of GripHero Ltd, commented on the findings, saying;
“Throughout 2020, we’re pleased to have seen very significant growth in the numbers of networks around the world taking up our eco-friendly customer protection system. The feedback we have received from both operators and drivers correlates with the results of the survey – with many operators reporting an uptake in custom since providing convenient customer protection as well as an increase in the number of drivers protecting themselves.
“However, with the high dispensing efficiency GripHero brings, the plastic waste and consumption figures actually drop considerably. Operators report a dramatic reduction to their plastic and carbon footprints, whilst protecting more customers.”
“We must also remember that often with typical motorist behaviour, they fail to clean their hands before picking up the fuel-pump, which means that there’s a very real possibility that any illness could be passed on to the next users of that pump,” added Oli Yeo.
“That’s why GripHero was invented – to protect drivers from foul-smelling, fuel-impregnated hands, and to stop the avoidable contraction of illness, which has become particularly pertinent following the outbreak of Covid-19.”
A win-win situation
Through the development of ATEX certified anti-static materials, GripHero’s hand protection systems are permitted within the refuelling zone – creating the world’s only solution that allows drivers to enjoy the convenience of hand protection exactly where they need it – right in front of them, on the fuel pump handle that they are about to hold, directly at the point of use.
Moreover, as each dispenser releases just one item of hand protection at a time, it prevents clumps of hand protection being taken accidentally or deliberately. So, there should never be a shortage of hand protection at forecourts installing GripHero. That means drivers can refuel and grab a snack safe in the knowledge that their hands won’t have touched a surface handled by hundreds of other drivers, who could be carriers of Covid-19. That’s a win-win scenario for all concerned – forecourt owner and driver.
The first ship powered solely by liquified natural as (LNG) is to unload at the iconic Oikos jetties on the River Thames.
The ship, Ramanda, from the Gothia Tanker Alliance series of vessels based in Sweden, offers significant environmental benefits and lower costs, with LNG use significantly reducing Carbon Dioxide emissions, Sulpur Dioxide output by close to 100% and Nitrogen Oxide particulates by 85%.
Tony Woodward, general manager of Oikos Storage Ltd., said;
“It is imperative that the whole fuel supply chain plays its part in tackling climate change. By hosting multi-fuel greener vessels and developing the port and storage infrastructure for the next generation of fuels, we are proud to be playing our small part in the decarbonisation of the fuel sector and the country’s critical national infrastructure.”
Nigel Thomason, British Fluid Power Association Distributor chairman, condemns hose re-ending in the power generation sector as the UK’s fluid power trade association launches its ‘Choose Q for Quality’ campaign highlighting BFPA Approved Quality members.
Hoyer says ‘detailed contingency plans’ will be put in place to ‘ensure any action has a negligible impact on our operations’, adding that it remains committed to engaging with the union to find ways to ‘mitigate the redundancies’.
The Hoyer Petrolog UK employees based at the Stanlow oil refinery, in Ellesmere Port, will be taking action in response to plans to make six of the 20+ drivers redundant. The 24-hour strikes will take place on November 2nd, 4th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 20th, 23rd, 25th and 27th.
Unite regional officer Steve Gerrard said;
“Unite’s members have delivered a stunning mandate in favour of industrial action.
“Despite Unite giving Hoyer every opportunity to resolve this dispute through negotiations, it has refused to do so and as a consequence and as a last resort Unite has announced strike dates.
“Our members regret that their action will cause considerable disruption to fuel deliveries but believe they have no other option in order to save their jobs.
“Fuel tanker drivers are frontline workers and throughout this pandemic their work has ensured that other frontline workers can continue to go to work. They deserve to be treated better than this.
“The ball is now firmly in Hoyer’s court. It can still avoid strike action occurring by withdrawing the threat of job cuts.”
A Hoyer spokesman said;
“We can confirm that we have received notification of industrial action at our parking location in Cheshire which will result in a small number of our fuel tankers not operating on the nominated days.
“However, we will be implementing detailed contingency plans to ensure any action has a negligible impact on our operations.
“We remain committed to engaging with the union representatives regarding any meaningful and realistic proposals that can be put forward in order to mitigate the redundancies.
“However, the challenge remains that these jobs rely directly on people returning to driving their cars and flying in planes at ‘normal’ levels – things which are simply beyond our control.”
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