Saudi fuel retailer, UAE firm in deal for service stations

Emirates National Oil Co. (Enoc) has teamed up with Saudi fuel retailer Aldrees to build at least 40 service stations in the Kingdom, the companies said. Enoc has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Aldrees Petroleum, which enjoys healthy sales margins thanks to plentiful supplies from Saudi Aramco, to increase its revenues abroad. “We make good returns on the nonfuel business but it doesn’t compensate for the losses that we have,” Burhan Al Hashemi, managing director of Enoc Retail, said at a signing ceremony in Dubai. “So that’s why for the whole organization is to go outside and explore new markets.” Abdulelah Saad Aldrees, the head of Aldrees Petroleum, said Aldrees buys 91 octane gasoline for SR 0.36 a liter and sells it at SR0.45. It pays SR 0.51 for 95 octane gasoline and sells it at SR 0.60, he said. The higher octane gasoline costs about SR1.75 in the UAE. Aldrees operates more than 450 filling stations in Saudi Arabia, and the partners plan to build at least 40 more in the first phase the AED 400 million investment plan. From : Arabnews