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The best place to form a judgement about the quality of service of a petroleum products supplier is the filling station (often indeed called a service station). All car users go there regularly. On our roads we can see:
- Stations operating under the names of the oil companies (about 15 000 in France in 2002),
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Supermarket hypermarket stations
(around 4500 in 2002),
- Motorway stations (343 in 2002), where petrol is more expensive, but which are open 24 hours a day, and which often provide special services (toilets, baby-changing facilities, games areas, picnic spots, tyre inflation, a small supermarket with regional products, communications corner …).
In 2001, the supermarket chains made their appearance on motorways: some will soon go as far as opening premises the size of a classic supermarket. Do your shopping on the motorway on your way home from a weekend away!
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| Shot of an employee at the Total service station at La-Chapelle-sur-Erdre (France). |
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| In service stations off the motorway, the oil companies devote a lot of attention to their users in terms of quality of service. There you can find: accessories for the car, washing and vacuuming units and a small shop for food and drinks and for the purchase of regional products. In their service stations, safety remains an absolute priority for the companies. For example, the pump nozzle that dives into the tank of your car to fill it with petrol is equipped with a system, which extracts the petrol or diesel fumes and returns them to the fuel storage tanks. That is a way of reducing fire risks! The underground storage tank consists of a double-walled construction and is equipped with a leak detector. |
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| Diagram of a service station. |
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| For many years, the service stations belonging to oil companies have had to meet competition from the supermarket filling stations. Unfair competition? Anyway it’s not illegal. But for supermarkets, the sale of petrol is not a major factor in their turnover. They can allow themselves to make very little profit, even none at all, on fuel: they will make up for it inside the supermarket. It’s the opposite for a stand-alone filling station, where the sale of fuel represents in most cases the major part of the activity. The petrol companies cannot lower their prices below a minimum at which the filling station is no longer profitable, that is to say that it becomes impossible to finance the installations of the station and the salaries of its employees. The companies therefore put all their efforts into another aspect: that of fuel quality, with additives, products, which improve fuel performance. Each company has its own and their secrets are well kept. These additives ensure better engine cleanliness, an improved yield, a longer life, less fumes and petrol odours that are more pleasant. |
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| Petrol and diesel additives. |
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| Filling the fuel tank of a car in a Total service station near Lançon de Provence. |
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| One French oil company has completely revised its commercial policy. It has opened filling stations under a discount brand – where service is reduced to a minimum – aimed at competing directly with supermarkets. And the company is aiming specifically at certain users (road haulage companies, users in rural areas) by setting up service stations meeting their specific requirements. And the result: for the first time, in 2004, the market share of the
supermarkets in fuel distribution fell, reaching 55% as against 57% earlier. |
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