Automotive fuel retail

We are registered for the retail sale of automotive fuel. That is the forecourt trade, selling to the motorist at the pump. It is a different business from wholesale distribution, which delivers bulk product by tanker into somebody else's tank, and the two are classified separately for good reason.

Retail, not wholesale

The distinction is worth stating at the outset because the two are often confused. A wholesale distributor sells bulk product on to businesses and resellers and delivers it by tanker into their tanks. A retailer sells at a dispensing point, in small quantities, to whoever drives on to the site.

They are separate classifications and separate businesses, with different equipment, different regulation and different economics. SK Petroleum Limited is registered for the retail side.

What a fuel retail site actually is

A forecourt looks simple and is not. Beneath it sit storage tanks, and between those tanks and the nozzle runs a system of lines, pumps, meters, vapour recovery and interlocks, all of it monitored and all of it regulated. Fuel is a dangerous substance held in quantity in a public place, and virtually every part of the installation exists because of that.

Above ground the same site is a retail business, with pricing, payment, stock control, wet stock reconciliation and everything that comes with serving the public.

Wet stock

The single discipline that defines the trade is wet stock management: reconciling what was delivered, what is in the tanks and what went through the meters. A persistent unexplained loss is either a measurement problem or a leak, and the difference matters enormously. Reconciliation is done continuously rather than when something looks wrong.

Enquiries

Enquiries about supply, equipment or the trade generally are welcome. Contact details are here.