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Qatar Today Editorials - Motivating Energy
WOQOD, the sole fuels distributor in the country, will develop and operate all new petrol stations over the next 15 years. The image of the dreary old petrol stations is likely to change and become an important aspect of the consumer's daily routine, adding consumer friendly and innovative retail products and services to it. Qatar Today spoke to Mark Vidler, Retail and Marketing Manager of Qatar Fuel to know more about the country's latest fuel retailer – WOQOD.
"WOQOD distributes all of Qatar's energy needs, right from the cars we are driving to ships and boats, the gas we use for cooking to the aviation fuel for the Doha International Airport, is all supplied and distributed by WOQOD," Vidler points out. Following the standards set by some of the international retail brands, WOQOD aspires to become the friendly petrol station, one which will be in every one's vicinity, which while catering to the petrol needs of the vehicle also meets the daily needs of the consumer by services like convenience stores, internet cafes, and other essential services like postage, laundry services and courier services. "The initiative behind the store is the convenience they offer to customers for their daily needs. Instead of going to a hypermarket to fulfil their daily needs, all they have to do is to just drop into one of our petrol stations on the way back from work, fill gas, find easy parking and pick up the daily groceries such as fresh bread and milk without any hassle. The 24-hour stores will also sell some medical items while a separate pharmacy too would be added to our petrol stations later on," he says. The 'friendly' petrol station will also have trained staff at the pumps with add on facilities like the most modern car washing facilities which have efficient water recycling units that reduces water wastage to a minimum. The car washing system will also have various options in cleaning such as underbody wash. Additional services include lube change, tire change, workshops and manual car wash. The petrol stations will all follow a standard design, which has been evolved after various brainstorming sessions to get the best possible design for efficient working of all the facilities. "These are the initial facilities planned for the station, but our thinking process is still working overtime, trying to open new avenues in further simplifying the customer needs. ATMs too will be added to the list, and at later stage even money transfer facilities will be offered at our petrol station-cum-convenience stores," enlightens Vidler. "Work has already begun on three of the petrol outlets and we aim to have the first station functional by the end of this year. The work for the other outlets will soon begin and we hope to complete 50 outlets in five years." Fuels Retailing is a prominent aspect of the oil and gas industry, which needs incessant innovation to grab a prominent market share. The fuel retail industry is going through rapid transformations. As the competition in the world of fuel retailing has increased, oil companies are now trying to get a better look at the entity called 'end consumers'. Products such as branded petrol, diesel, loyalty programmes, smart cards, convenience stores, increased amenities such as vending machines and ATMs are gradually changing the picture of the dreary old petrol stations. These emerging technologies are slowly turning petrol stations into interesting brand entities by giving various benefits to the end consumer. Fuel retailing in the other GCC countries are making headway with leading brands like ADNOC, EMARAT, Shell and Al Maha already creating waves in this field. Qatar is not far behind in this area with a major player – Qatar Fuel, which under went a drastic image change and rebranding exercise to emerge as WOQOD – the new energised fuel retailer in Qatar. WOQOD has an added advantage, as it will be the only major retailer in the country allowed to open new petrol stations for the next 15 years, according to an Emiri decree. Talking about Qatar Fuel and its inception, Vidler says, "Qatar Fuel is a fairly young company, formed just about two and a half years ago as a joint stock company of 30 million shares, 40 percent of the shares are owned by Qatar Petroleum and 60 percent are listed on the Doha Securities Market. We have made substantial profit in the last fiscal year (Net profit for the year 2004 is QR90,402,218 with an increase of 80 percent when compared to 2003) But the years to come will prove to be more beneficial as now we are in the initial stages of development, and when the convenience stores along with the petrol stations are operational, there will be no looking back for WOQOD." Vidler continues, "We want to project ourselves as a committed and strong brand which is accountable for all its activities. To attain this we will have the best competencies from across the world to demonstrate that we are the best in our region of expertise. We plan to achieve 50 percent Qatarisation by 2008. We also want to be known as an environment friendly gas retailer through the introduction of new technologies." WOQOD in Arabic stands for energy and their brand logo is the Sidra flower. The new brand is inspired by a strong Qatari heritage – the Sidra tree, the desert environment and the energy from the sun. The Sidra is endemic to Qatar; it is a tough tree, which can survive the forceful and harsh desert environment with minimum maintenance. The Sidra tree provides shade and beautifies the desert landscape. The flower of the tree is therefore significant and the brand logo can compete internationally while reminding one of their roots. "WOQOD being a generic word that pertains to energy, we can even move world wide and still be the same brand," claims Vidler. The convenience stores and the branded superlative, state-of-the art convenient petrol stations are just the beginning as there are a whole related activities planned by Qatar Fuel. "We are looking at various marketing channels for refined fuel products like WOQOD branded lubricants will soon be available in the petrol stations. Hydraulic oil for hydraulic equipments is also being developed. Bitumen storage and loading facilities, LPG distribution centres along with a new LPG bottling plant. We are planning on various innovative methods of supplying LPG in bulk, like a line directly from a LPG tank to an apartment block. Piped gas for industrial plants with a metering system is also being worked upon. Bunkering at Ras Laffan is another area of our expansion. Bunker fuel will be provided by pipelines, this will reduce operating costs of the ships and will increase safety in fuel loading."
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