Kerosene and biofuels ( cont / d from page 17 ) Fuel Oil News asked if Greenergy saw the likelihood of a new liquid fuel to prolong the life of kerosene used for home heating .

“ No I don ’ t , because a renewable alternative to kerosene would have more value in jet fuel . The industrial and political will to abate CO2 is greatest in the aviation sector , so in future a renewable kerosene product would be more likely to go into a jet engine than an AGA .”

“ PRESENTLY NOBODY ’ S EXHIBITING A REAL NEED FOR ALTERNATIVE FUELS – IT ’ S MORE ABOUT THE SUPPLIERS WANTING TO SELL THAN THE CUSTOMERS WANTING TO BUY ”

Biofuels now account for 20 % of Greenergy ’ s business , with manufacturing capacity having doubled in the last 5 years .

“ Biofuels is making a very strong contribution to our business at the moment . We ’ re constantly investing to make cost reductions in our manufacturing operations . With vehicles certainly able to take a greater percentage of biofuels than they do now , we ’ re ready to step up our production .”

Brexit , challenges and future products “ I believe many in the oil industry are positive post Brexit . In our high tariff world Brexit makes trade easier .”

Five years ago Greenergy said its biggest challenge was how to deal with a declining market with the caveat that a declining market was also a growth opportunity .

“ A declining market still remains the biggest challenge . UK road fuel sales have grown for the last four years , but in the medium to long term the market is legislated to decline , with

greater engine efficiency reducing demand and the advent of driverless cars bringing a further step change .”

High resilience , excellent stock availability and fleet accuracy – are these still your guiding principles for success in this business ?

“ The core foundation of this business had to be the cost base and we ’ ve stuck to relatively simple principles – to be the most efficient , most reliable , most resilient and lowest cost supplier . We believe that no customer will say no to a better price and a better service .”

Are there plans to expand into the supply of alternative fuels ? “ Yes , but not until alternatives become mainstream ,” said Andrew .

“ Presently nobody ’ s exhibiting a real need for alternative fuels – it ’ s more about the suppliers wanting to sell than the customers wanting to buy . But when we can see that there ’ s sufficient scope and a sizeable market to target , we would certainly look at this .”

Looking back over 25 years FON asked whether , when he started the company , Andrew had expected it to develop in the way it has .

“ In those early days I didn ’ t see further than 25 weeks ! I have spent much of the past 25 years following my nose , but always with the aim of achieving the lowest cost base with the highest service and supply resilience . These remain the core foundations of the company .” “ What ’ s been most rewarding over the time has been bringing young people into the business and seeing them flourish ,” said Andrew .

“ Greenergy has created a lot of successful careers and I ’ m delighted when I see someone climb the ladder at Greenergy or become a head trader at Morgan Stanley . Over many years , I ’ ve derived a lot of pleasure from watching new recruits become confident high achievers .”

And looking forward With its ability to access the capital for additional investments , Greenergy ’ s next 10 years are likely to be slightly different from the last 10 years . The company has further plans in the UK and is already looking at ‘ a couple of deals that could make us bigger ’.

In the meantime the final works are being completed at Thames Oil Port ready for the start of road loading .

Fuel Oil News | April 2017 19