Woqod’s board of directors chaired by Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani led the opening of the annual general meeting.

 

By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter


Woqod (Qatar Fuel) is urging consumers using domestic LPG metal cylinders to shift to the lightweight and transparent Shafaf cylinders, which are readily available at Woqod gas stations and several other outlets.
“The executive management of Woqod has decided to replace the metal cylinders with Shafaf,” Woqod chairman Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told Gulf Times yesterday.
Speaking on the sidelines of Woqod’s annual general meeting yesterday, he explained that consumers replacing a metal cylinder for Shafaf will get a “bonus” of QR100.
In its 2014 annual report, Woqod noted that despite its efforts to replace the metal cylinders with Shafaf, the former recorded a growth rate of 7% in 2014, translating to 5.1mn cylinders compared to 4.8mn in 2013.
“The plan to shift from the metal to the Shafaf cylinder is being gradually implemented to prevent any disturbances in the local market,” the report said.
The report also noted that Shafaf (12kg) sales posted a 54% increase and reached 1.4mn cylinders in 2014. The 6kg Shafaf cylinder also recorded a 26% increase with sales of 39,000 filled cylinders in the same year, exceeding its 31,000 sales in 2013.  
Sheikh Saoud said Woqod does not have any facility to manufacture Shafaf cylinders, but the executive management had been instructed to propose to the board of directors a feasibility study on constructing Shafaf plants in Doha.
In terms of other investments, the chairman disclosed that their prime focus is to diversify some of Woqod’s portfolio locally or internationally besides opening more gas stations, retail outlets and technical car inspection centres.
“We are developing a strategy right now in this regard as customer service is very important,”
he pointed out. “So, we instructed the executive management to focus on improving customer service in terms of conducting surveys, looking at their satisfaction,
what they need, and how we can
be closer to them in terms of products and in terms of solutions.”
Sheikh Saoud said 2015 will be a challenging year for Woqod as they have to maintain profitability, but also stressed that they are not focusing on only profitability.
“As a shareholding company, we are also customer-oriented. We need to make sure our customer is satisfied with our services that we provide to them,” he explained. “We would like the people to be patient with our services as we are improving ourselves today to meet certain criteria.”
The annual general meeting also covered the objectives and achievements of Woqod in 2014 and the strategies it would undertake in the coming year.