Shell pulls ethanol pumps from Victoria

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Shell pulls ethanol pumps from Victoria
Steve Colquhoun
August 12, 2011
Comments 20

Greener fuel not selling, says petroleum giant.

Cheaper ethanol-blended fuel is on the nose with Victorian motorists according to Dutch petroleum giant Shell, which is withdrawing the 10 per cent ethanol-infused E10 fuel from sale.

Shell will quit selling the environmentally friendlier fuel at all 63 of its 200 Victorian service stations that offer it, but will continue to sell E10 in other Australian states where it enjoys significantly greater popularity.

Shell spokesman Paul Zennaro said the greener fuel — a mix of unleaded petrol and plant-derived ethanol — simply wasn’t popular in Victoria, despite being between two and four cents per litre cheaper to buy.

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‘‘The Victorian public hasn’t really warmed to the product, and volumes of sales are very low,’’ he said.

Shell will switch its E10 bowsers and supply tanks over to diesel fuel, which Mr Zennaro said was booming in popularity.

The RACV’s acting manager of vehicle engineering, Nick Platt, said E10 simply didn’t stack up financially for Victorians.

‘‘Given there’s about a 3 per cent increase in fuel use, it’s probably not making financial sense,’’ he said.

‘‘The discount doesn’t cover the extra that you use by using E10. People just aren’t getting the savings they thought they would.’’

However, a spokesman for the independent United Petroleum group of service stations said demand for E10 was growing more quickly at its Victoria sites than in other states.

‘‘We introduced it about five years ago and Victoria had one of the fastest uptakes,’’ said United’s general manger of ethanol and supply, David Szymczak. ‘‘Our volume of E10 in Victoria actually growing and we’re getting really good feedback from our customers.’’

United Petroleum recently purchased an ethanol refinery in Dalby, in Queensland, and plans to continue to offer E10 at a discount around the country.

A government mandate in NSW directing retailers to stock E10 has ensured the fuel’s popularity in that state. Shell has not withdrawn the fuel from any other Australian state.

Caltex Australia last year began selling E85 — an 85 per cent blend of ethanol and petrol — as part of an agreement with Holden, which launched an E85-capable engine in its popular Commodore range.

Caltex spokesman Sam Collyer said it was too early to tell whether Victorian motorists were backing the ethanol-heavy brew, while Holden spokswoman Shayna Welsh said the car maker was undeterred in its ethanol roll-out that will see more Commodores converted to run on E85 later this year.

My comment...sugar goes in my coffee...not my car