Oil Retail's customers and products

Oil Retail is a major marketer and supplier of petroleum products in Finland, with a product range that includes gasoline, diesel, heating oil, heavy fuel oil, and aviation fuel. Neste Oil also offers its customers a wide range of lubricants, chemicals, and LPG. Products are sold to consumers and directly to industrial and agricultural customers. Outside Finland, Neste Oil has a total of 326 stations in Northwest Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland selling traffic fuels to retail customers.

Premium-quality products, a strong brand, an extensive station network, and competitive unit costs give Neste Oil a valuable competitive advantage in the retail marketplace. The portfolio of services developed by Neste Oil offers customers a number of value-added solutions in areas such as fuel consumption monitoring and product ordering.

Slightly higher traffic fuel sales volumes

Neste Oil's sales volumes of traffic fuels increased by 0.3% and total sales stood at 3.1 million m³. Growth was largely driven by increased demand for diesel. Diesel fuel sales rose by 3.4%, while gasoline sales fell back by 3.3% compared to 2010.

Neste Oil’s share of retail gasoline sales in Finland grew significantly, to reach 27.1% (24.9%). The company’s share of retail sales of diesel fuel in Finland was 39.1% (38.6%).

Products with a smaller environmental footprint

Oil Retail continued developing its range of lower-emission traffic fuels during 2011. Pump-based sales of small-engine gasoline, designed to keep the engines in garden tools, outboards, chainsaws, and similar products free of contaminants and reduce their environmental emissions, was launched on a trial basis. A decision whether to extend the trial, initially based at two service stations in southern Finland, will be taken on the basis of how demand develops.

Neste Oil launched a new sulfur-free fuel oil for heating and engine use containing 2% renewable diesel in Finland at the beginning of 2011. Odorless, smoke-free Neste Green Light lamp oil, produced from 100% renewable raw materials, was also introduced at Finnish service stations.

During the summer, Neste Oil launched a trial in Finland involving a total of 23 tanker trucks running on Neste Green 100 diesel. The one-year trial will monitor how well the fuel, a 100% renewable product, performs in extended highway usage with heavy loads and in a range of weather conditions. Trials of Neste Green 100 diesel with passenger cars also continued during 2011 and a number of Neste Oil personnel used the fuel in their company cars as part of the program. Neste Green diesel, containing a minimum of 10% renewable diesel, is sold at Neste Oil outlets in Southern and Eastern Finland.

Increased direct sales in the aviation and mining sectors

Demand in the direct fuel sales area increased in 2011, particularly in the aviation and mining sectors. Neste Oil achieved a new sales record at Helsinki Airport in the summer when over 1 million liters of jet fuel were sold a single day for the first time. Neste Oil also succeeded in signing new partnership agreements with various mining businesses, as well as new LPG and lubricant sales agreements with various other industrial customers.