Motor Oil’s Coral planning natural gas market entry

Plans for an entry into Greece’s natural gas retail market by Motor Oil Hellas subsidiary Coral (Shell) are expected to be completed by October, a highly ranked company official informed yesterday, noting Coral plans to utilize its broad network of fuel stations, numbering over 730, 301 of these company-owned, as well as a large number of loyalty cards, which exceed 835,000.

The Motor Oil Hellas group has been granted three natural gas market licenses for its Motor Oil, Coral and Coral Gas companies.

In planning to penetrate the natural gas retail market, the corporate group intends to enter a rival market is that impacting its main business activity, fuel sales.

Apart from its entry into the natural gas retail market, the group is also considering entering the wholesale gas market.

Coral plans to offer a company bond to investors in late April. According to Motor Oil Hellas, this move is being made to further reinforce the company’s independence, not reduce its debt level. Since being acquired by Motor Oil Hellas in 2010, Coral’s market share has risen from 16 percent to 22.6 percent.