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Released October 27, 2014 | PERTH, AUSTRALIA
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--Puma Energy (Singapore), a subsidiary of trading company Trafigura Beheer B.V. (Trafigura) (Amsterdam, Netherlands), has been making aggressive moves in Australia's fuel market. While many fuel companies are winding down operations in Australia, Puma has been expanding. In 2013, the company spent $900 million acquiring refineries and a number of independent Australian fuel retailers, including Gull Petroleum (Perth, Australia) and Peak Petroleum (Perth).
Industrial Info is tracking Puma's three active Australian projects, which are worth more than $191 million. One of the projects involves the construction of Puma's $89 million Kwinana Refined Petroleum Products Storage Terminal.
View Project Report - 300168924
High maintenance costs and competitive pressures from Asia are forcing refiners like Shell Australia (Perth, Australia) and Caltex Australia Limited (ASX:CTX) (Sydney, Australia) to reconsider the future of their Australian refining operations. The recent closures of Caltex's Kurnell and Shell's Clyde refineries in New South Wales have illustrated the economic challenges facing Australian refineries. Shell Australia is part of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands).
View Plant Profile - 3003586 3003586
Puma is capitalizing on Australian's refinery decline by expanding its fuel import capacity. This was evidenced in May 2014, when Puma opened a $70 million fuel import terminal at Mackay. The terminal comprises six storage tanks with 56 megaliters of storage capacity that are joined to the port by a 1.6-kilometer overground pipeline.
View Plant Profile - 3126027
According to Puma Energy Australia General Manager Ray Taylor, the Mackay terminal will ensure fuel supply security to the still-growing mining industry in central and northern Queensland.
Puma's strategy has been to expand its Australian fuel storage capacity to capitalize on Australia's growing reliance on imported fuels. This was revealed when Puma Chief Executive Pierre Elardari declared that the closure of Australian refineries is transforming the nation into one of Asia's biggest fuel importers.
The transition of Australia's fuel market is underpinning Puma's plans to spend $250 million during the next few years to expand its retail, import and distribution infrastructure in Australia. Industrial Info is tracking both of Puma's operational terminals in Mackay and Townsville, in addition to the Kwinana Storage Terminal, which is due to be completed in 2015.
View Plant Profile - 3126027 3126036
Puma is not the only company jumping at the chance to profit from the changing fuel supply scene in Australia. In February 2014, Vitol Group (Geneva, Switzerland), through its Australian subsidiary Viva Energy (Melbourne, Australia), purchased Shell Australia's downstream assets for $2.9 billion. The agreement included all of Shell's refining, marketing and service station businesses.
The closure of Australian refineries has created opportunities for foreign trading companies like Trafigura and Vitol, which have the advantage of strong marketing, distribution and global trading businesses. Trafigura and Vitol are the third- and second-largest global energy trading companies behind Glencore plc (LN:GLEN) (Baar, Switzerland).
According to Elardari, the strength of Trafigura's global trading business will make it more successful than other Australian fuel suppliers at "building logistics and connecting with the international market" to import fuel to Australia at competitive prices. Trafigura's plans to use large, long-range oil tankers that were not previously used in the country to import cheaper fuel from around the world.
The future of Australian refining industry does not look bright, according to Puma Energy's Ray Taylor. While the industry will continue to shrink, domestic demand for fuel in Australia will increase. Companies like Vitol and Trafigura have realized that profits can be made in Australia's changing fuel market through innovative business, marketing and trading solutions.
For more information, visit Industrial Info's Oil & Gas Production Database.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
Industrial Info is tracking Puma's three active Australian projects, which are worth more than $191 million. One of the projects involves the construction of Puma's $89 million Kwinana Refined Petroleum Products Storage Terminal.
View Project Report - 300168924
High maintenance costs and competitive pressures from Asia are forcing refiners like Shell Australia (Perth, Australia) and Caltex Australia Limited (ASX:CTX) (Sydney, Australia) to reconsider the future of their Australian refining operations. The recent closures of Caltex's Kurnell and Shell's Clyde refineries in New South Wales have illustrated the economic challenges facing Australian refineries. Shell Australia is part of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands).
View Plant Profile - 3003586 3003586
Puma is capitalizing on Australian's refinery decline by expanding its fuel import capacity. This was evidenced in May 2014, when Puma opened a $70 million fuel import terminal at Mackay. The terminal comprises six storage tanks with 56 megaliters of storage capacity that are joined to the port by a 1.6-kilometer overground pipeline.
View Plant Profile - 3126027
According to Puma Energy Australia General Manager Ray Taylor, the Mackay terminal will ensure fuel supply security to the still-growing mining industry in central and northern Queensland.
Puma's strategy has been to expand its Australian fuel storage capacity to capitalize on Australia's growing reliance on imported fuels. This was revealed when Puma Chief Executive Pierre Elardari declared that the closure of Australian refineries is transforming the nation into one of Asia's biggest fuel importers.
The transition of Australia's fuel market is underpinning Puma's plans to spend $250 million during the next few years to expand its retail, import and distribution infrastructure in Australia. Industrial Info is tracking both of Puma's operational terminals in Mackay and Townsville, in addition to the Kwinana Storage Terminal, which is due to be completed in 2015.
View Plant Profile - 3126027 3126036
Puma is not the only company jumping at the chance to profit from the changing fuel supply scene in Australia. In February 2014, Vitol Group (Geneva, Switzerland), through its Australian subsidiary Viva Energy (Melbourne, Australia), purchased Shell Australia's downstream assets for $2.9 billion. The agreement included all of Shell's refining, marketing and service station businesses.
The closure of Australian refineries has created opportunities for foreign trading companies like Trafigura and Vitol, which have the advantage of strong marketing, distribution and global trading businesses. Trafigura and Vitol are the third- and second-largest global energy trading companies behind Glencore plc (LN:GLEN) (Baar, Switzerland).
According to Elardari, the strength of Trafigura's global trading business will make it more successful than other Australian fuel suppliers at "building logistics and connecting with the international market" to import fuel to Australia at competitive prices. Trafigura's plans to use large, long-range oil tankers that were not previously used in the country to import cheaper fuel from around the world.
The future of Australian refining industry does not look bright, according to Puma Energy's Ray Taylor. While the industry will continue to shrink, domestic demand for fuel in Australia will increase. Companies like Vitol and Trafigura have realized that profits can be made in Australia's changing fuel market through innovative business, marketing and trading solutions.
For more information, visit Industrial Info's Oil & Gas Production Database.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
