By Costis Stambolis
Unlike the other sectors of the energy market (i.e electricity,gas) Greece’s oil sector is characterized by intense competition in the retail end. Today a total of nine’teen (19) oil trading companies are active in the domestic market with total annual sales exceeding 10 million metric tons corresponding to a yearly turnover of some 8 billion euros. These companies buy the bulk of their products from four refineries which are currently in operation and belong to two companies, Hellenic Petroleum SA and Motoroil SA. Between them the four refineries are capable of refining 19 million tons per year with the majority of their production going to the domestic market while a significant part is exported.
Hellenic Petroleum, where the state has a controlling interest, last summer aquired one of the four refineries which until then belonged to independent oil company Petrola SA, part of the Latsis group. Since the acquisition of Petrola by Hellenic Petroleum, which now controls three refineries (Salonica, Aspropyrgos and Elefsis) the refining market is split between Hellenic, which is responsible for 70% of the output, and Motoroil which produces the rest.
Until recently the Motoroil refinery, which is situated in Aghii Theodori, near the town of Corinth, and belongs to the Vardinoyiannis group, with Saudi Aramco having a 50% stake, was primarily an export oriented operation. However, as the local market has expanded steadily at the astonishing rate of 10% average over the last two to three years, and with a further increase in sight, Motoroil has re-routed its output as to serve better the local market. Of its 6.0 million ton yearly output now 60% goes to the domestic market and the rest is directed for export, mainly to other European countries. Motoroil recently embarked on a 350 million Euro investment programme aiming towards upgrading of the refinery’s main production facilities in order to achieve quality of refinery products capable of meeting the most stringest European union specifications which come into force in January 2005. Main new process units including a mild hydrocracker, a gas oil polishing unit and a hydrogen plant will be build as well as a sulfur recovery unit. The project also includes the revamping of several process units such as a vacuum distillation unit and the upgrading of the existing power plant up to a total 60MW installed capacity. A similar investment programme is already under way at the main Hellenic Petroleum refinery in Aspropyrgos with most units scheduled to come on stream before the end of this year.
With the standard of living in Greece steadily improving and with a steady influx of immigrants, oil consumption is rising fast, mainly as a result of an increase in the motor vehicle fleet and expanding demand for heating oil and diesel. As it can be seen in the table below, which presents information on company sales and the rating of each company, the market is dominated by three large companies ( EKO, part of Hellenic Petroleum, BP and Shell) which between them control more than 53% of the market. The rest of the market is shared by sixteen (16) smaller Greek companies lead by medium sized Avin Oil,part of Motoroil, Jet Oil and Elinoil which last week was successfully listed in the Athens Exchange.
According to Mr.Andreas Petrianides, general manager of the Hellenic Association of Oil Trading Companies (SEEPE), competition is well established in the local market with companies trying to win market share by improving both the quality of their products, through the introduction of quality control procedures, and through the upgrading of their services to the motorist and to house owners. Competition involves too price differentials at petrol stations, notes Petrianides, although this is not normally the determining factor which affects the shaping of market share. There are other considerations including brand name and brand recognition, the geographical positioning of the retail outlets, the operation of company accounts and of course the level and range of services offered by the different companies.
The last five years was a period of significant changes in the Greek oil scene with some major companies, with a presence in the Greek market of more than 40 years, withdrawing alltogether from the local market. Companies including Mobil, Texaco, Fina left Greece following larger re-alignments in the European market while smaller companies such as G.Mamidakis were taken over by much larger ones. The market void was soon filled up by the expanding presence of the large three and also by the emergence of new players such as Cyclon and Revoil, also listed in the Athens Exchange, and upcoming Aegean Oil until recently active only in the bunkering sector.
Following the successful IPO last week of Elinoil, a family run medium sized but very dynamic Greek oil company, the outlook for further market expansion looks excellent. Elinoil raised the sum of apprx. 14 million euros and its offering was oversubscribed 3.5 times, which according to analysts is a very positive sign given the market’s otherwise depressed state. Elinoil’s vice president John Kourouklis says that the company will use the new funds to invest in new petrol stations, modernize its transportation infrastructure and expand its storage facilities. This will enable the company to increase its market share by winning new clients, mainly in the periphery, where other companies are not likely to venture. Elinoil, which is also active in steam coal imports and sells coal to industry from its own terminal in Elefsis, has drawn up plans to build Greece’s first ever bio fuel plant in Volos. This is an entirely new market for Greece but where Elinoil has already aquired some useful field experience following pilot scheme in northern Greece which was run using imported biofuels as part of an EU funded programme.