Discussing Petroleum Istanbul 2022 and the Turkish market
We speak to Bilun Saka, General Manager of Enerji Fuarcılık Ve Organizasyon, organizer of Petroleum Istanbul, about Turkey’s biggest event for the fuel retail industry, the state of the sector and the main market trends. The trade fair takes place March 31 to April 2, 2022.
The last edition of Petroleum Istanbul took place in 2019. How excited are you for the show to be back on?
The trade fair is biennal and, for the first time in its history, it will be held three years after its last edition. The 15th Petroleum Istanbul edition is special as it will gather the entire industry with all its stakeholders and an incredible participation for the first time after the pandemic. For us, it is a great responsibility after such a difficult period and it gives us great pleasure.
How many exhibitors and visitors are you expecting? How many did you have in 2019?
During 3 days of Petroleum Istanbul 2019 and Gas & Power Network 2019 fairs, a total of 31,278 people visited the event and 4,308 of them were foreign. With VIP entries, collective delegation entries and exhibiting company representatives, the total figure approached 40,000. We expect the number of visitors to increase by 10% for 2022.
Why should international suppliers and retailers visit Petroleum Istanbul?
Turkey is, both economically and demographically, one of the largest countries in the world. It is also a huge market with its young population and tremendous growth potential. Therefore, there are remarkable opportunities for international suppliers and retailers with an appetite for investment. International companies that have plans for Turkey may create significant business networks and take the first steps to enter the market, as the biggest players in the Turkish oil market will be at the event. This applies not only to liquid fuels, but also to the production and supply of equipment, Auto LNG, Auto CNG, electric vehicle charging stations and convenience stores.
What are some of the biggest trends in the Turkish market?
We see that trends in the Turkish fuel market are similar to those in the rest in the world. It is very important to meet the needs of customers as well as ensuring the satisfaction they get from products and services. For this reason, as well as the quality of fuel products, the infrastructure of stations and the sale of non-fuel products are key. Turkey is at a very advanced stage in non-fuel sales in comparison to the other markets. Products sold in the stores and the services provided are increasingly diversified, which has had a postitive impact on the turnover. New products and services being offered include electronics and building materials.
The change is not limited to this. The increasing share of electric vehicles will also impact the fuel retail business with chargers being installed. In order to reduce high energy costs and fitting with the transformation of the energy markets, gas stations install solar panels on the roofs of the canopies. Recently, we see that the roof SPP institutions have increased and there is a great interest from the industry.
Energy efficiency and sustainability are among the issues that the industry is focused on. We expect these issues to continue to be part of the agenda.
Something very unique about the event is that it brings the whole industry together – oil companies, distributors and dealers. What is the state of the Turkish fuel retailing market right now?
Petroleum Istanbul, as you have stated, is the biggest and most important biennal meeting for the Turkish fuel industry. In this respect, it is an international event that draws great attention from all public and private sector stakeholders in the sector, from refineries to distribution companies, from dealers to equipment manufacturers, from consumer product suppliers to logistics companies.
The agenda of the sector includes new trends and change, as well as expectations and solutions to problems, especially in the context of the pandemic. We see that the Turkish fuel market has emerged with a rapid recovery. Turkey has become the second fastest growing country in the OECD and is expected to close 2021 with growth beyond expectations. The rapid growth in the economy also brought an increase in the demand for fuel products. This is an important development that supports the growth of the sector, but in the same period, we see that the costs have increased and both distribution companies and dealers have difficulties. Both trends will be discussed at Petroleum Istanbul.
What should visitors look out for at the show?
The pandemic has accelerated remote access, remote management, remote working and digitalization processes in the business world. Therefore, I think that there will be innovations especially in the digitalization and autonomy of activities. In addition, increasing competition highlights the importance of consumer-friendly applications. I think that practices related to consumer satisfaction and creating a loyal customer base will be at the forefront.
