Up for an ecommerce award, Fuel Fighter has seen a 69.92% increase in conversion Work on Fuel Fighter has secured a place on the Ecommerce Awards for Excellence shortlist for ecommerce agency Nublue. The Lancaster-based ecommerce agency is on the shortlist for Best B2B Ecommerce for its work for heating oil suppliers Allan Stobart Fuels & Lubricants, Chandlers Oil, AID Fuel Oils Group and WCF North West and North East. The project required an improved online experience for both the company’s users and the business itself. The team at Nublue were tasked with updating the company brand, user experience, ease of use for mobile visitors as well as developing a better, more functional back end experience for those maintaining the website. The project was completed using CakePHP and resulted in a 69.92% increase in ecommerce conversion for Fuel Fighter. Nublue is also a finalist in the Best Leisure, Entertainment, Sport, Travel & Holidays Ecommerce category, for their work on a conversion focused website for football suppliers Clubline Football which allows users to visualise the personalisation of products before purchase. The resulting website has seen a 63.58% increase in conversion. “We’re always delighted to see a completed project working so well for our clients, so to add an industry recognition for that hard work is the icing on the cake,” said , Michael Ashworth, Nublue’s managing director. The Ecommerce Awards for Excellence winners will be announced at a celebration ceremony on Wednesday 27 September following the first day of eCommerce Expo 2017 in London.www.fuelfighter.co.ukwww.nublue.co.uk

Representatives of the charity attended the celebration at Stanlow, to raise awareness amongst employees and to formally receive the donation The sixth anniversary of the acquisition of Stanlow Refinery by Essar Oil UK has been recognised with a £7,500 donation from the company to the Ellesmere Port-based charity Cheshire Young Carers. Employees also supported the organisation by raising an additional £1,800 through collections, a sum that will be matched by Essar and brings the total contribution to over £11,000. Cheshire Young Carers provides respite support for some of the 8,000 young carers in Cheshire who have a caring responsibility for a parent or sibling. The core aims of the charity are to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of young carers by offering respite services to support them in their caring role, to support them through education and to support them through periods of crisis. “The money that Essar has given us will make a huge difference to young carers in Cheshire,” said Martin Howlett, chairman of Cheshire Young Carers. “To put it into perspective, the donation will directly support 30 young carers for twelve months. This will support a variety of programmes, including residential breaks, and sports and educational activities.” Alan Jones, Service Manager at Cheshire Young Carers commented: “We aim to bring childhood opportunities to young carers, so that they can have a break from the caring responsibility, putting their stresses to one side while they socialise with others. As well as this, we are always here to talk to if they need some emotional support.” “Every year, we invite a local charity to be our special guests at Stanlow,” commented Mr. S Thangapandian, CEO Essar Oil UK. “Cheshire Young Carers are based close to the refinery in Ellesmere Port, and offer an excellent service to young carers across Cheshire. It was our pleasure to welcome them for our Charity Day, and I’m delighted that our donation and the fantastic fundraising efforts of our employees will help support the work they do.”www.essaroil.co.uk

The Inver Energy acquisition fulfils ‘a long-term ambition of Greenergy to participate in the Irish market’ with the acquisition offering ‘a very exciting opportunity for everyone at Inver’ Having agreed to purchase 100% of the shares of Inver Energy, Greenergy is looking forward to a presence in the growing Irish market for the first time. Inver’s business activities include import and storage facilities and fuel supply operations in Ireland, as well as an Irish retail dealer network operating under the growing Inver brand. Inver’s existing management team will remain in place and Chris O’Callaghan, Inver’s managing director, will join the board of Greenergy Fuels Holdings. “It’s been a long-term ambition of Greenergy to participate in the Irish market,” said Andrew Owens, Greenergy chief executive. “As entrepreneur-founded private businesses, Greenergy and Inver are a perfect structural and cultural fit to fulfil this ambition. Both are customer-focused, can-do businesses with an emphasis on safety, operational reliability and low costs. “By combining Greenergy’s global origination skills with Inver’s share of the recently constructed AFSC terminal in Ireland, its branded retail dealer offer and strong local customer relationships, we aim to accelerate the expansion of Inver’s business in Ireland.” “The acquisition by Greenergy is a very exciting opportunity for everyone at Inver,” said Chris O’Callaghan. “While we’re now part of a significantly larger business, we will continue to think and act ‘local’ and will maintain our commitment to our customers and their businesses. I look forward to steering the business through its next stage of development.” Inver Energy is a leading fuel supplier in Ireland, supplying petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and heating oil to commercial and retail customers. Inver has a 50% shareholding in the AFSC import and storage facilities at Foynes, a strategic location on the west coast, and supplies independently owned forecourts through the Inver brand. It also owns a terminal in Cardiff, a portion of which is leased to Greenergy. East Cork Oil Company continues as the other 50% partner in the AFSC import terminal in Foynes.www.inverenergy.comwww.greenergy.com

This week UKPIA announced the appointment of its new director general – Stephen Marcos Jones will take up his role when the existing director general Chris Hunt retires in November. “Stephen comes to us with an excellent academic record, many years of trade association advocacy experience and extensive knowledge of the sector,” said Paul Bray, UKPIA president and Valero’s director, European government & public affairs, who announced the appointment. “UKPIA’s Council is excited to be working with Stephen on the many challenges that face the downstream oil industry over the coming years.” Paul Bray also took the opportunity to “thank Chris for the 20 excellent years of service he has given UKPIA and his achievement in developing the Association into the effective and proficient body it is today.”

With increased hazardous waste capacity, Adler & Allan’s Rainham facility offers flexible opening times including evenings and weekends. The site also has a new quarantine facility with lab analysis for unknown wastes plus a lounge and refreshment area for drivers Adler & Allan’s Rainham facility in east London has been expanded and upgraded. The facility now provides improved waste management and disposal, emergency response – covering flooding, spills and fuel delivery – and asset resilience solutions for tanks, drains and separators. Located on the A13 and close to the M25, customers from London, Essex, Kent and East Anglia can conveniently access the site. “With the south east the most densely populated part of the UK, it’s important that we have suitable facilities to service customers in this region,” said Alan Scrafton, Adler & Allan’s head of marketing. “Rainham’s expansion and upgrade is an exciting development that should help businesses in the area better manage their waste and maintain their assets, with disasters dealt with quickly, and essential equipment, such as tanks and separators, kept in good working order.” Adler & Allan Rainham can accept and process a wide range of packaged and bulk hazardous and non-hazardous wastes, including chemicals, corrosives, firewater, drummed, IBC’s and lab smalls, plus provide the decontamination and disposal of associated containers. Its emergency response provision is available 24/7, 365 days a year to local customers, designed to minimise damage and clean-up following an environmental disaster. Fuel delivery is also covered, ensuring essential vehicles, plant machinery and general operations and fully functional. The onsite fleet of tankers, fitted with the best pumping equipment on the market, are available to carry fuel and other bulk liquids/products, or remove waste. Adler & Allan Rainham also offers separator cleaning and maintenance, essential for preventing pollution and flooding on forecourts and other sites that store or handle fuel. Other services include above or below ground storage tank cleaning and removal, using the most advanced manual and automated tank cleaning technologies available, High pressure industrial water jetting – for hydro demolition and cleaning contaminated surfaces, such as drains – and 24 hour fly tip clearance.www.adlerandallan.co.uk

In acquiring the DONG Oil & Gas business for a headline price of $1.05 billion plus $250m contingent will position INEOS as a top 10 company and the biggest private enterprise operating in the North Sea. “DONG Energy’s oil & gas business is a natural fit for INEOS as we continue to grow our upstream activities,” said Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS chairman. “We are pleased to acquire this competitive, well-run business, with its highly successful and experienced team, a strong portfolio of long life assets and a very good mix of existing production and developments across the North Sea. “This business is very important to us at this stage of our growth plans and we are delighted with the expertise that comes with it. We have been successful in our petro-chemical businesses, focusing on operating our assets safely, efficiently and reliably and we intend to do the same with our oil & gas assets. We are keen on further growth and already see lots of opportunity within this impressive portfolio when it transfers to INEOS.” On completion, the Business will bring a full complement of highly experienced oil & gas personnel, with 440 staff transferring to INEOS. The business being acquired has a strong portfolio of long life assets, producing 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2016 and with around 570 million boe of commercial and potential oil & gas reserves across the Danish, Norwegian and UK continental shelves. This transaction will enable INEOS to significantly expand its trading and shipping activities making it a major trader in the sector. INEOS has much to offer this business, bringing its proven track record in operating complex assets of this nature to further maximise the economic recovery of the hydrocarbons in the acquired portfolio. With a long term view and wide-spread industrial integration, INEOS is ideally placed to extend the lifespan of these assets and invest in the major oil & gas development opportunities that accompany this portfolio. The DONG Oil & Gas business is a natural fit for INEOS, further strengthening its long-term upstream activity, which was founded on the acquisition of both DEA’s and Fairfield’s UK portfolios in 2015 and more recently the Forties Pipeline System from BP. The acquisition and transfer of ownership is targeted to complete within Q3 2017, subject to the receipt of regulatory and other third party approvals.  The Business will be acquired by the INEOS Industries business division. www.ineos.com/            

Shell’s winning campaign ‘totally exceeded anything we’d imagined’ said Diana Altmann, global media manager for brand communications at Shell Last month Shell’s global campaign the best day of my life, created by MediaCom, took the Corporate Influencer Award at the 2017 World Media Awards. A panel of 30 senior judges from major brands, agencies and media owners, presided over by three head judges – Ian Armstrong, global advertising general manager, Jaguar Land Rover, Sanjay Nazerali, global chief strategy officer with Carat Global, and Raquel Bubar, director T Brand Studio International at The New York Times – had the challenge of selecting seven category winners and a Grand Prix winner from the many entries that were received from across the globe. “We’ve been nominated two years in a row for the World Media Awards so to come home with a trophy this year is fantastic,” said Diana Altmann, global media manager for brand communications at Shell. “The ambition was definitely big from the onset, but the campaign has absolutely exceeded anything we’d imagined, and we were able to achieve something unbelievable for us as a brand.” Emma Winchurch-Beale, president of the World Media Group and international sales director at the Washington Post commented: “As advertisers strive to target consumers globally, a successful content-driven ad campaign can be a powerful way to tell a brand’s story across multiple channels and borders. “Shell’s entry ‘Best Day of My Life’ is a great example of this. The innovative campaign caught the attention of the judges for merging established musicians with new start-ups; highlighting a worldwide support for clean energy.”www.wm-awards.com/

INEOS Shale, the onshore division of INEOS Upstream, has completed the acquisition of the entire UK onshore petroleum exploration and development licence interests of ENGIE E&P UK Limited, increasing the total acreage held by INEOS under licence to more than 1.2 million acres. The transaction involves minority interests in 15 licences, seven of which INEOS holds an existing interest in. The remaining eight complement the company’s existing licence interests in Yorkshire, Cheshire and the East Midlands. Three of the licences are operated by INEOS, eight by IGas Energy and four by Cuadrilla. http://www.ineos.com/   Table of Licences acquired  

Puma Energy, the global integrated midstream and downstream energy company has released its audited full year results for the period ended 31 December 2016, with record sales volumes increasing by around 16%. Commenting on these results, Pierre Eladari, CEO, said that he was pleased to announce “another significant year for Puma”, in which the company had realised an overall growth of 12%. “I was also pleased to see the business model responding to a sustained period of organic growth across the business segments and regions with the completion of the integration of UK activities acquired in 2015, growth in the Americas driven by the retail segment and good operating performance in retail and aviation across all regions.”  

(l-r) Simon Elliott, MAN UK managing director, Glyn Moores and Ian Broomhead from Pullman Fleet Services, and Mark Binns, managing director, HOYER Petrolog UK Ellesmere Port-based Pullman Fleet Services (PFS) has won the annual HOYER/MAN dealer of the year award. The winners of the technician and outstanding performer of the year awards were also announced. “The awards recognise those maintenance providers with an outstanding performance throughout the year, in addition to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the success of the HOYER Petrolog fleet,” said Allan Davison. Pullman Fleet Services delivered a 100% record on safety and scored an impressive 96.4% on fleet availability with a 98.8% MOT pass rate. The technician of the year award went to Gwynne Jones of Pullman Fleet Services. “Gwynne has presented virtually every HOYER MOT this year and through completing thorough quality checks has maintained a solid first time pass rate on the HOYER contract for the past two years,” said Peter Ellison, head of fleet services SHEQ & Compliance, who was one of the judges. “He has taken ownership of the first time pass rate for PFS and provides feedback from the test station sharing best practice to the rest of the workshop. Gwynne has developed and maintained a good professional relationship with VOSA at all times and achieved credibility with the testers.” The outstanding performer of theyear award went to Nathan Adcock, workshop controller, Aquila Truck Centre with the special recognition award going to Jess Adlard who runs the operation at HRVS Scunthorpe.

Andrew Owen – ‘the participation of Brookfield Business Partners will allow Greenergy to participate in larger-scale strategic mergers and acquisition activities to propel our business to its next phase of development’. Greenergy has reached agreement for Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE: BBU; TSX: BBU.UN) to invest in the business with the aim of accelerating growth.   Existing Greenergy management shareholders will invest alongside Brookfield Business Partners and will retain a 15% share in the business. As part of the process all existing non-management shareholders will exit the business.  There will be no change to company strategy and the current management team will remain in place. “It has been our long-standing aim to increase our access to capital through a strategic investor,” said Andrew Owens Greenergy’s chief executive. “The participation of Brookfield Business Partners will allow us to participate in larger-scale strategic mergers and acquisition activities to propel our business to its next phase of development.” Established in 2016, Brookfield Business Partners acquires and manages businesses with high barriers to entry, low production costs and the potential to benefit from Brookfield’s global expertise as an owner and operator of real assets. Its investment objective is to generate long-term returns without taking undue risk, and it seeks returns of at least 15% on its investments. Cyrus Madon, chief executive officer of Brookfield Business Partners, commented: “Our investment in Greenergy expands our footprint in the European market through a business that provides an essential service and a track record of providing customers with reliable and competitive supply.  Greenergy is well positioned to continue growing its service offering for its long-term UK customer base, and we believe we can broaden the company’s operations outside of the UK by leveraging our global presence.” The transaction is expected to conclude in Q2 2017.  Its value has not been disclosed.www.greenergy.comwww.brookfieldbusinesspartners.com

Anton Martiniussen (r), the new APEA chairman with Killian Tallon, APEA’s outgoing chairman, now referred to as immediate past chairman Anton Martiniussen of Elaflex has been appointed as APEA chairman at the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration’s AGM, exhibition, conference and gala awards dinner held recently in Milton Keynes. A UK-based organisation, the APEA draws its membership from all quarters of the petroleum industry, including regulators from national and local government authorities, oil companies, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, service and installation organisations, training establishments and many others. It is seen to be unique in representing all sides of the industry and in providing a forum for debate and the generation of technical guidance. “We aim to facilitate the interchange of information, ideas and good practices with safety first and technical excellence,” explained Anton. “If you would like to share something with us, please contact us. Reaching out we would very much like to hear more of what goes on in your market and how we can link up.”www.apea.org.uk

  Puma Energy, the global integrated midstream and downstream energy company has recently released its Q3 2016 results. Commenting on these results, chief financial officer Denis Chazarain said: “I am pleased to report another period of growth for the business across all of our key parameters. “Although we faced the headwinds of currency fluctuations and slowdown of some economies, we have increased our storage capacity to a record 7.9 million m3 following the latest acquisition of BP’s storage terminal in Northern Ireland.”   Key Financial Highlights 

The addition of BP’s Belfast terminal last Thursday takes Puma Energy’s global network of bulk storage terminals to 100, culminating in a total storage volume of 7.9 million m3 of storage capacity. The acquisition builds on the purchase of the 1.4 million m3 capacity Milford Haven terminal in 2015, further supporting Puma Energy’s growth within the European market, and helping to ensure high quality, reliable fuels supply to Northern Ireland.

Greenergy played a starring role at the Oscars of the corporate reporting world when Stephen McCaffrey, chief financial officer and chairman Paul Lester CBE were presented with an award by ITV newsreader Mary Nightingale (l) and Lady Susan Rice CBE Greenergy has won the Building Public Trust Award for Excellence in reporting in private business for its annual report. The award recognises Greenergy’s fresh approach to corporate reporting, which goes beyond regulatory requirements to ‘tell it how it is’ through a compelling narrative.

The merged group – Intervias – will be a leading independent petrol forecourt retailer in Europe UK-based Euro Garages and the European Forecourt Retail Group (EFR), which operates in Benelux and France, will continue to operate under their own names with their current CEOs and senior leadership teams.