Woqod opens its 27th petrol station in Wakrah

Woqod chairman Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan al-Thani leads the ribbon-cutting ceremony during the opening of its Al Wakrah service station. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

By Peter Alagos Business Reporter

Woqod (Qatar Fuel) opened its 27th service station and a new Fahes Vehicle Inspection Centre along the Al Wakrah-Mesaieed Road on Tuesday. Woqod chairman Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan al-Thani led the ribbon-cutting ceremony in the presence of chief executive officer Ibrahim al-Kuwari and other board members. “We are glad to inaugurate a new service station and Fahes centre. The Fahes centre will start inspection operations soon and after finalising small technical issues. This is the 27th service station and the third Fahes centre that Woqod has completed so far,” said al-Kuwari. He added: “In designing this project, we took into account the varied needs of the local community in Al Wakrah and Mesaieed areas.” Al-Kuwari said the service station provides gasoline and diesel for motorists and the local community. Also, the station has a Sidra Convenience Store, car wash, and multipurpose automobile service bay for basic vehicle maintenance. “The new Fahes centre stands out with a single window system, directly linked to the Traffic Department and insurance companies,” he explained. Al-Kuwari said further sites will be opened this year in different locations: “Woqod currently has eight additional service stations under construction, which are expected to be inaugurated by the end of 2015, or in the early 2016.” “Woqod is also planning to establish new Fahes inspection lines in existing petrol stations subject to the availability of space. This is in addition to other expansion projects, which are almost complete and expected to be opened in 2015,” al-Kuwari added. Al-Kuwari also said Woqod had shelved expansion plans abroad to focus on providing Qatar more petrol stations, particularly within Doha. “We have frozen all our projects overseas, especially for retail such as petrol stations; Woqod is concentrating first in Doha to make sure that we are covering this location 100%, as well as other areas around the country. “We feel there is a lot of attention that needs to be given to the country; once we are confident that we have covered important areas around Qatar then we will be comfortable to invest outside of the country,” al-Kuwari told reporters. He also said Woqod’s plan to manufacture its own lubricant in Qatar is underway. “We are currently under negotiation with our partner, a Qatari company. We are still reviewing the agreement and once it is finalised we will make the necessary announcements.” “The project is big because it involves two producers and it will be one of the biggest lubricant producers in the region,” al-Kuwari explained. On the other hand, al-Kuwari said the fuel company had decided to shelve plans to manufacture Shafaf cylinders, which he said “is not feasible for the time being.” “Based on the study we have conducted, we learned that for the time being it is not feasible to manufacture the cylinders here, which is why we did not push through with the project. Importing Shafaf cylinders is more feasible for us right now,” he explained. Currently, Woqod is encouraging owners of metal gas cylinders to replace them with Shafaf. Instead of paying QR365, Woqod will refund QR100 to those who will replace their metal gas cylinders with Shafaf. The promo runs until December 31, 2015.