ENOC Group announces retail growth strategy

The Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) Group has announced ambitious plans to strengthen its retail and service station network by 2020 to meet the requirements of Expo 2020 Dubai.

ENOC Group will further expand its retail network to 191 from its current 129 service stations across the UAE in the lead up to Expo 2020 Dubai as its Official Integrated Energy Partner. In addition, the group will also expand its local presence across the northern emirates through reopening service stations in Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.

In 2019, ENOC plans to open 15 service stations across the UAE, with five service stations and three compact stations in Dubai. The group will also move forward with its plans for Sharjah by opening five service stations in its reclaimed locations; one new service station in Fujairah, one in Ras Al Khaimah and three compact stations.

“We are committed and well-prepared to support the UAE’s expansion vision by building a robust fuel retail infrastructure needed in the run up to EXPO 2020, expected to attract over 20 million visitors, and beyond,” says Saif Humaid Al Falasi, group CEO, ENOC. “In addition to meeting the needs of this world-class event, we are also focused on expanding our footprint across the UAE to ensure that the communities we serve have easy and convenient access to fuel and other automotive, F&B and convenience store amenities.”

By 2020, the group plans to build a total of 47 service stations, which will include 25 stations in Sharjah, 4 in the northern emirates and 15 stations in Dubai, three of which are confirmed at the Expo 2020 Dubai site, in addition to 3 compact stations.

In 2017, ENOC announced that all future service stations will be powered by photo-voltaic (PV) solar panels. ENOC currently operates more than 14 service stations in Dubai using solar energy, generating an estimate of 651 MWh of electricity across its retail stations since 2017, which is equivalent to 80 homes’ electricity use for one year.

ENOC’s new service station at the Expo 2020 Dubai site will follow the new design concept of the Ghaf tree, which symbolises the ‘Year of Tolerance’ observed by the UAE this year. The service station will be contemporary, sustainable and will feature a unique architecture design that uses the latest technologies such as use of carbon-fibre.

Further, ENOC is at the edge of latest technologies and has launched an innovative payment system with the use of ENOCPay, a cashless, cardless payment solutions app for both fuel and non-fuel products at ENOC and EPPCO service stations. The group is a forerunner of innovation in the energy industry for payment solutions including ViP, a RFID based payment system.

In addition, the ENOC Group will expand its retail operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The group’s retail arm will increase its service station network by more than eight fold by 2030 to reach 124 stations to meet the growing fuel station demand in the GCC’s largest market that is home to over 33 million residents and spans 2.15 million square kilometres in size.

The new service stations will be strategically spread across different locations across the Kingdom covering east, west and central regions, with the objective of boosting the quality of infrastructure to bring last mile connectivity, especially for the rural parts of the country.

Over the next five years, ENOC plans to open 45 new service stations. From 2024 to 2028, the group plans to further expand its retail operations across the Kingdom by opening 65 new ENOC stations. All upcoming service stations in the Kingdom will have provisions for solar pv panels to be installed on the roof of the canopy.

“Our growth plans for the Saudi market come as part of the Group’s retail expansion strategy aimed at not only boosting domestic economic sentiment but also providing an impetus to our international growth plans. We strongly represent continued foreign investments into the Kingdom that rose by 110 per cent in 2018 to reflect the country’s diversification to non-oil industry trade between countries through goods and consumer products,” stated Al Falasi. “We are committed to deliver on the Saudi Vision 2030 objectives to enhance the country’s infrastructure and provide the highest quality of service standards as well as invest in new stations that offer the full breadth of retail services. This is an important milestone in our geographic expansion to Saudi Arabia.”

At the end of 2018, ENOC Group had unveiled a five-year plan for its retail expansion in Saudi Arabia. With 14 operating service stations in the Kingdom, the group has plans to open 3 new service stations by end of 2019, and a further 10 by end of 2020. Through its expansion plans, ENOC will also provide employment to over 500 people across the Kingdom. The ENOC service stations will have fully integrated digital wall displays on forecourt columns and ZOOM convenience store entrances. Customers will also receive information on latest offers and promotions offered at ENOC service stations and ZOOM, Pronto and all service outlets.