LOW-COST self-service petrol station chain Ballenoil plans to open a further 110 premises in Spain this year on top of the 233 it already operates nationally.
Ballenoil was acquired by CEPSA in November 2023 - a year in which the firm opened 41 new branches across Spain (photo: Ballenoil.es)
The 'budget' arm of service station company and national petroleum giant CEPSA – which acquired the chain in November 2023 – opened 41 complexes across the country last year, leading to its sales rising by nearly a third.
Litres of petrol and diesel dispensed at Ballenoil stations in 2023 rose by 31% on the quantity shifted in 2022, and customer numbers have gone up sharply, with pumps used 22% more last year than the previous.
So far, Ballenoil's presence outside the capital region – where it has 71 branches – is greatest in Andalucía, in the south, and the Comunidad Valenciana, on the east coast, with 54 and 23 premises respectively.
The company has been gradually expanding nationwide, and its fourth-largest market is currently the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, which has 20 sales points, with Catalunya fifth, home to 17 branches.
Ballenoil has been growing steadily outside of the most heavily-populated regions, with 14 branches in the centre-northern territory of Castilla y León, 13 in the land-locked western region of Extremadura, five each in Asturias and the Basque Country on the north coast and Murcia in the south-east, and four in two other northern coastal regions, Galicia and Cantabria.
Although low-cost petrol stations are self-service and payment is made by credit or debit card at the pump, with no on-site shopping, café or toilet facilities, they still create jobs, due to various regional laws passed in recent years.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com