The step marks the entry of an entrepreneurial company on one of the toughest markets in Romania, the gas and diesel retail, which generates almost EUR10 billion revenue a year and is dominated by four major players.
“We can announce that we will launch our first full-service filling stations under a new brand, OCTANO, in 2016. We have already bought the plots of land for the first stations and have made significant progress with the necessary permits to build them, so we expect to have 10 OCTANO stations open by the end of 2016,” said Dan Coflea, chief commercial officer of Bulrom Gas. The stations will allow refilling with all types of fuel and will also have a generous non-oil service area.
Bulrom’s step comes after demand for fuel has picked up following years of decline, driven by the drop in fuel prices induced by the oil price slump. The fuel market, however, is one of the toughest to compete on, as it is dominated by four major companies: OMV Petrom, Rompetrol, Lukoil and MOL Romania.
Bulrom Romania posted 420.9 million lei (EUR94 million) revenue in 2016, down almost 8% on 2014, when it posted RON456.8 million revenue, according to the data supplied by the company.
“The decline in revenue was due to the abrupt decline in all international quotes (both of LPG and of petrochemical products) caused by the oil price slump,” Dan Coflea said.
Bulrom expects revenue to reach RON412 million lei in 2016, a rather cautious estimate considering its development plans, which include a building a new storage facility, though its focus will be on the ten OCTANO filling stations, its officials said.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)