Engineering: Motor fuel sales hit record in 2004 as forecourt closures slow to three a week

Source: Energy Institute
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The latest UK Retail Marketing Survey, conducted by the Energy Institute (EI), shows that in 2004 UK forecourt sales of motor fuels totaled 28.2 million tonnes - the largest volume ever sold. The total, however, conceals the fact that petrol sales continued their long slow decline while diesel sales continue their strong growth.

Petrol stationIn the last ten years retail petrol sales have declined by 15%, while retail diesel sales have more than doubled in a decade. Taking into account the total road fuel market – both forecourt and commercial consumers – 2004 was the first year when almost equal volumes of diesel and petrol were sold in the UK. Forecourt rationalisation continued in 2004 with 184 closures, averaging 15 a month. This represents a considerable slowdown, being the lowest closure rate since 1999 and well below the 2003 total of 890 sites, or 74 sites per month. Closures in 2004 were, however, effectively confined to the oil company operated sites.

Petroleum Review's UK Retail Marketing Survey is published annually by the Energy Institute and provides a comprehensive statistical overview of the UK forecourt market. Data is broken down by company, region and forecourt facilities. The survey is based on statistics relating to the end of 2004 and does not reflect changes since that date.

The key findings of the survey are:

  • There were 10,351 operational filling stations in the UK and Northern Ireland at 2004 year end.
  • The number of sites declined by 184 in 2004 - a closure rate of 15 a month, well down from the 74 a month seen in 2003.
  • Different sectors showed very different responses in 2004: oil company sites declined by 325 to 6,307 (down 541 to 6,941 in 2003); main retailer sites increased by 51 to 1,591 (down 78 to 1,231 in 2003); supermarket sites increased by 16 to 1,142 (up 59 to 1,126 in 2003); smaller retailer sites increased by 5 to 165 (down 43 to 168 in 2003); and other unbranded sites increased by 77 to 1,146 (down 12 tro 1,069 in 2003).
  • There were 580 quick-serve restaurants attached to forecourts (Little Chef, McDonalds etc) and 270 in-forecourt (Wild Bean Cafe, Bake N Bite etc).
  • Average site throughput, at 2.457m litres/year was a new record level.
  • There are currently 8,916 self-service forecourts in the UK.
  • 764 sites now retail auto-LPG (176 more than in 2003); the largest operators are BP with 207, up 40 on 2003 and Shell with 197, unchanged from 2003.
  • 92 sites were retailing biodiesel and this figure is expected to rise to 165 by 2008.
  • 1,948 sites retailed super-unleaded petrol, 551 less than 2003.
  • The four largest oil company operations by number of branded forecourts were (2003 figures in brackets): BP - up 39 to 1,301 (1,262); Esso - down 135 to 1,080 (1,215); Texaco - down 90 to 1,073 (1,163); and Shell - down 64 to 1,034 (1,098).
  • Taxation of retail motor fuels was running at 47.1 pence/litre on petrol and 53.27 pence/litre on diesel at end of 2004, VAT remained unchanged at 17.5%.
    • The 2005 Retail Marketing Survey is available, priced £20, from Portland Press Ltd, Commerce Way, Whitehall Industrial Estate, Colchester CO2 8HP, UK.

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    Source: Energy Institute
    Date Published: March 14, 2005
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