Budget fuel station Ballenoil unveils major expansion plans following CEPSA takeover

LOW-COST self-service petrol station chain Ballenoil plans to open a further 110 premises in Spain this year on top of the 233 it already operates nationally.

The 'budget' arm of service station company and national petroleum giant CEPSA – which acquired the chain in November 2023 – opened 41 complexes across the country last year, leading to its sales rising by nearly a third.

Litres of petrol and diesel dispensed at Ballenoil stations in 2023 rose by 31% on the quantity shifted in 2022, and customer numbers have gone up sharply, with pumps used 22% more last year than the previous.

So far, Ballenoil's presence outside the capital region – where it has 71 branches – is greatest in Andalucía, in the south, and the Comunidad Valenciana, on the east coast, with 54 and 23 premises respectively.

The company has been gradually expanding nationwide, and its fourth-largest market is currently the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, which has 20 sales points, with Catalunya fifth, home to 17 branches.

Ballenoil has been growing steadily outside of the most heavily-populated regions, with 14 branches in the centre-northern territory of Castilla y León, 13 in the land-locked western region of Extremadura, five each in Asturias and the Basque Country on the north coast and Murcia in the south-east, and four in two other northern coastal regions, Galicia and Cantabria.

Although low-cost petrol stations are self-service and payment is made by credit or debit card at the pump, with no on-site shopping, café or toilet facilities, they still create jobs, due to various regional laws passed in recent years.

Fearful that the rise in fuel stations able to offer lower prices by dispensing with staff costs would threaten jobs in the industry, it is now a legal requirement in most regions for any premises of this type to have at least one employee on site during operating hours.

This obligation is also a safety and security issue, and ensures motorists who run into difficulties or are faced with payment machine malfunctions will have someone to assist them.

As a result, Ballenoil's expansion across Spain means over 400 people are employed nationally for a total of 235 fuel stations.

Not all of them are based on the premises, however: The creation of a control centre, referred to as a CECOEX, and increased online and telephone-based customer service, means office and call-centre staff have been taken on.

Ballenoil and similar self-service refuelling points typically offer petrol and diesel at prices ranging from five to 20 cents per litre cheaper than mainstream service stations. 

They are unlikely to be a threat to the survival of these mainstream service stations, as low-cost pumps are far less widespread even with expansion plans on the cards, and do not offer facilities essential to weary travellers such as shops, restaurants, coffee shops or rest rooms.