Enoc aims to open 45 stations in Saudi Arabia over five years

Emirates National Oil Company, based in Dubai, is to build 45 service stations in Saudi Arabia over the next five years as the kingdom’s privatisation efforts attract fuel retailers from the UAE.

Enoc Group’s plans for Saudi Arabia, starting with the capital Riyadh and the Eastern Province, come as part of efforts to expand its retail network by more than 220 per cent over the next five years in the kingdom, chief executive Saif Al Falasi said yesterday.

All 45 of the fuel stations will be built along a vast network of highways that connect 13 provinces and will serve as a major logistics and trade land corridor. Mr Al Falasi recently told

The National the Dubai energy company, which has the largest refinery in the emirate, was searching for new opportunities to trade products in Africa as well as enter the fuel retail business in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Al Falasi said the company was close to completing the refurbishment of 15 service stations in Saudi Arabia by the end of the year. “Now we’re looking at things much faster, to retrofit stations but for 2018, we would have completed the 15 stations,” Mr Al Falasi said at the time. “We have an agreement with a retailer in Saudi Arabia to franchise our brand.”

Emirates National Oil Company is not the only UAE retailer to make moves into the Saudi Arabia market, where the municipal and rural affairs ministry plans to roll out 1,200 petrol stations. Last week, Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc Distribution, the UAE’s biggest fuel and convenience retailer, opened two stations in the kingdom.

They are located in Riyadh and the city of Hofuf in the Eastern Province. Adnoc had secured a trade licence to operate in the kingdom in March.