DUBLIN – In recent times, there have been some major structural changes in the Irish petrol retailing market with arrival of Tesco and the departure of both Shell and Statoil. These changes have been driven by reductions in fuel retailing profit margins and sharp rises in the cost of land, pushing up operating costs and making it attractive to sell sites to developers. As a consequence, for the industry as a whole, there are now fewer service stations across the country but these sites are selling higher volumes of fuel as car ownership continues to rise in Ireland.

For Texaco, the last few years have seen some substantial milestones:

• the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Texaco Ireland;
• the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Texaco Children’s Art competition – Ireland’s longest running event in the history of art sponsorship;
• the appointment of a new Country Chairman: Declan McAndrew;
• the addition of almost 20 new service stations to the Texaco brand.

Next year sees the company celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Texaco Sportstars Awards – again the longest running sports sponsorship in the country.

Declan McAndrew, Texaco Ireland Limited Country Chairman said: “Texaco has a lot of heritage here and Ireland continues to be an important market for us. We are actively seeking to grow the network of Texaco-branded sites across the country and there will be continued investment by us in our products and services."

“There have been substantial changes in the fuel retailing market but as one of the largest suppliers of fuel in Ireland with a nationwide branded network, this has presented us with opportunities to expand further at the expense of weaker competitors.”

Editors’ notes

• There are approximately 280-branded service stations in Ireland and more than 3,500 stations across Europe. Texaco Ireland Limited also holds an equity stake in four fuel storage facilities across the Republic.
• For any media enquiries about Texaco Ireland, contact Daniel Schraibman on
  0044 207 719 4459 or email danielschraibman@chevrontexaco.com

Issued June 2006