30 jobs go as Shell closes four petrol stations

Around 30 jobs are to go in the greater Belfast area after Shell announced the closure of four petrol stations.

The stations that have ceased trading are at Ballysillan, Carrickfergus, Glengormley and Ormeau.

The oil company said that it had to make the cuts over revenues lost through illegal fuel laundering and also in response to a reduced and more competitive Northern Irish market.

The company said that retail fuel demand had fallen by 35% over the past four years and so stations would have to be pared "as a result of margin pressure". A statement from the company said that the marketplace in the north was "perhaps the most competitive environment for retailing motor fuel".

The move brings to 34 the number of petrol stations in province, and dropped staffing levels down to around 150.

A spokesman for the company was reported as saying: "Shell Ireland recognises recent successes by Customs and Excise in Northern Ireland and will continue to lobby for greater reinforcement of legislation to tackle the smuggling issue."

Whilst fuel smuggling is indeed a widespread and costly blight on the economy, Customs and Excise have had a number of successes in recent months against smugglers. In its most recent operation, carried out jointly with the PSNI, a major fuel laundering plant was down at Rathfriland, Co Down.

The plant had the capacity to launder around 20,000 litres of diesel per day – equating to a weekly revenue loss of up to £25,000. During the operation Customs officers seized around 10,000 litres of laundered fuel and 4,000 litres of acid residue.

In February, a report by the National Audit Office revealed that fuel smuggling costs the Treasury £830 million a year in lost tax revenue – £380 million of which is accountable to Northern Irish smugglers. The report claimed that over half of all petrol stations in the north were selling illegal fuel.

In its annual report for 2001, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of companies saw its bottom line income figure fall by €1 billion to €7.3 billion. Royal Dutch/Shell Group will release its results for the second quarter tomorrow.

(GMcG)