The gas station market - France

1.2 The global service station market

At the global level, the most developed market in **** will be North America, which will consume almost **% of petroleum products, compared with **% in Europe.

Breakdown of global demand for petroleum products World, ****, in Source: ****

In Europe, France is the second largest market for petroleum products (***). Total demand in the European Union will reach *** million tonnes in ****.

Breakdown of European demand for petroleum products Europe, ****, in million tonnes / year Source: ****

However, in terms of service stations, the European country with the largest fleet is Italy, with **,*** service stations. In second place comes Germany, then Spain, closely followed by France with **,*** service stations. There will be ***,*** service stations in the European Union by ****. The UK, Turkey, Switzerland and Norway had **,*** service stations.

Number of service stations by country in Europe Europe, ****, in thousands of units Source: ****

1.3 The French service station market

The total number of service stations in France is falling slightly. Over the period ****-****, the number of service stations in France fell by *.**%, as shown in the graph below. One of the explanations for this decline is the drop in demand for fuel by French motorists.

French service station fleet France, **** - ****, in number of service stations UFIP

1.4 The impact of Covid-19 on the service station market

The Covid-** pandemic has had a major impact on fuel demand. Demand has fallen considerably during the various confinements, particularly during the first, where demand is down by more than **% compared with ****.

Impact of Covid-** on demand for road fuels France, ****-****, in thousands of cubic meters Source: ****

2.1 Fuel consumption in France

After years of increases, road fuel consumption saw a decline in ****, coinciding with the yellow vest crisis and higher taxation over the period. In addition, fuel consumption in **** plummeted by **%, due to the health crisis and the restrictions that followed. The various lockdowns, school closures and massive use of telecommuting all contributed to a drastic drop in movements and travel.

Consumption of road fuels France, **** - *****, million tonnes UFIP

2.2 Breakdown of fuel sales in France

In ****, total sales of road fuels in mainland France remained stable compared with ****, against a backdrop of equally stable prices. After four consecutive years of increases, they had fallen significantly in ****, due, on the one hand, to the consequences of the end-of-year "yellow vests" protests and, on the other, to rising fuel prices. This reflects an improvement in vehicle performance, which is a long-term trend. Diesel sales fell sharply in ****, albeit less sharply than in ****. This continues the downward trend that began in ****. conversely, sales of premium fuels are rising sharply, at almost twice the rate of ****.

evolution of fuel sales by type France, **** - ****, in millions of cubic meters Source: ****

As we can see today, diesel fuel, used in particular by diesel engines, accounts for almost **% of sales volume. Nevertheless, the aggregate share of premium fuels (***) is not negligible and today represents a cumulative **% of sales volume.

Breakdown of fuel sales by type of fuel France, ****, share in % of sales volume UFIP  

In ****, sales of road fuels remain stable. Sales of premium fuels are up sharply, while diesel sales are down significantly, by *.*%. Diesel's share of total road fuel consumption thus continues to fall, notably due to the decline of ...

2.3 The transformation of the French car fleet

The French car fleet is one of the largest in Europe, with ** million vehicles, of which almost ** million are on the road. However, new registrations are quite low: only *.** million new cars were registered in **** and *.** million in ****. As can be seen from the following graph, although this figure has been rising steadily since the low point of ****, it is still lower than neighboring Germany, for example, which had just *.* million new registrations in ****.

New passenger car registrations France, ****-****, in millions Source: ****

Today, most new vehicles are powered by petrol engines. In fact, **.*% of new French registrations are gasoline-powered. As mentioned above, petrol engines are perceived as more environmentally friendly and better suited to urban and semi-urban transport. Diesel, on the other hand, accounts for just **.*% of new registrations. It is also interesting to note that hybrid and electric engines now account for *.*% of new registrations, a constantly rising figure.

Breakdown of new car registrations by energy source France, % share of registrations, **** CCFA

2.4 Traffic in mainland France

In ****, traffic on the road network in mainland France reached *** billion vehicle kilometers . This figure has been rising steadily since **** (***), although it has tended to stabilize since ****. Foreign vehicles account for almost *% of traffic. Focusing solely on the French-flagged car segment, it can be seen that diesel cars account for **.*% of overall traffic in mainland France. By ****, this figure will have fallen to *** billion vehicle kilometers, due to health restrictions. We do not, however, have the breakdown between diesel and gasoline for cars under French flag.

Traffic in mainland France France, ****-****, in billions of vehicle kilometers Source: ****

However, the share of gasoline engines is gradually increasing. Although diesel engines are perceived as the most fuel-efficient, they do not enjoy a positive image, particularly regarding ecological considerations. Indeed, a diesel engine requires a large quantity of air to burn the fuel. This air provokes chemical reactions that release large quantities of atmospheric pollutants. These include nitrogen oxides, dioxides, gases, and fine particles such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, ethane, and ethylene. When the first diesel engines came onto the market, they were much less efficient than gasoline engines in terms of fine particles. In other words, they emitted far more fine particles ...

3.1 Value chain

3.2 Market breakdown

Regarding market distribution, Total, Avia, and Shell account for more than half of all service stations on freeways and expressways (***). The distribution is pretty concentrated around the main players. Unfortunately, we have no more recent figures on this distribution.

Distribution of service stations on freeways and expressways France, ****, in Source: ****

The map below shows service stations listed under NAF code **.**Z. This code does not include supermarket service stations and therefore does not represent the overall market. However, observing the geographical distribution of so-called traditional service stations is interesting. The Ile-de-France region and the south of France have the largest number of service stations.

3.3 Supermarkets at the heart of fuel distribution

There has been a decline in the market share of traditional networks to the benefit of supermarkets. Between **** and ****, the percentage of conventional networks fell by *.*% in France, as shown in the graph below. **** the breakdown will be **.*% GMS and **.*% traditional networks. Service station market share France, ****-****, in Source: ****

4.1 Fuel supply typology

The range of fuels on offer is complex. Nevertheless, a European Commission decision in **** introduced harmonized trade names for the different types of fuel sold at service stations.

Diesel

There are three types of diesel fuel, commonly known as gasoline:

B*: standard diesel, the most widely used. B**: a new form of diesel, which includes a maximum of **% biofuel. XTL: a synthetic distillate produced essentially from liquefied gas and oil

Gasoline

There are three types of petrol, always indicated by the European nomenclature with E preceding the numbers:

E**: formerly known as SP**-E**, this fuel contains **% ethanol E*: corresponds to the former names SP** and SP**. This fuel contains up to *% ethanol of plant origin E**: also known as super ethanol, this fuel contains up to **% bioethanol.

Other fuels

In addition, several new fuels are being developed and marketed at service stations to meet the needs of new forms of mobility and ecological considerations:

LNG stands for liquefied natural gas, used in particular by heavy-duty vehicles. H* stands for hydrogen. The advantage of this fuel is that it produces no CO*. However, its production consumes a lot of energy. CNG, or compressed natural gas, is the same gas used to ...

4.2 Trends in fuel prices at the pump

Evolution of fuel prices at the pump France, **** - ****, €/liter Source: ****

Pump prices (***) and distributor margins. It should be noted that taxes account for almost **% of the selling price of fuels. As can be seen from the following graph, TICPE alone accounts for **% of the pump price and VAT for *.*%.

We have not included prices for ****, which are fluctuating wildly due to the consequences of economic sanctions against Russia following the war in Ukraine. Prices reached €* per liter in March ****. Today's trend is for costs to return to normal, thanks to new fuel sources from other countries.

4.3 Innovation at the heart of service station renewal

Faced with changing consumer habits (***) and the emergence of the electric car as a credible alternative, service stations are finding it necessary to flesh out their value proposition, which previously revolved solely around fuel. Today, it seems necessary for service stations to integrate charging stations for electric cars. The graph below shows that the overwhelming majority of electric charging stations installed today are the result of initiatives taken by local authorities.

Distribution of public electric vehicle charging stations France, ****, in the number of units Source: ****

in addition, several start-ups are developing with the ambition of more or less profoundly changing the gas station market. U.S.-based Filld offers to fill up a vehicle while parked, even in urban areas, eliminating the need to visit service stations. The company MyGallons also provides a product enabling consumers to protect themselves against the volatility of their fill-up prices with a prepaid fuel offer. In addition, developing other navigation applications such as Waze (***), Citymapper, and others poses a significant risk for players in the service station market, whose visibility depends on their presence on these applications.

4.4 The range of services offered at service stations

In addition to fuel sales, which are the core value proposition of service stations, these establishments offer a wide range of complementary or ancillary services.

5.1 A specific tax system for petroleum products

Directive (***). This directive recasts Directive ****/***/EC of December **, ****. It came partially into force on March **, ****, and will be fully implemented on February **, ****, when Directive ****/***/EC will be repealed. Directive ****/**/EC, which is specific to energy products, sets minimum levels of taxation and, under certain conditions, exemptions or differentiated taxation rates. In France, there are three main types of excise tax on energy:

TICFE (***); TICGN (***); TICPE (***).

5.2 The current regulatory framework

Heading **** of the classified facility nomenclature, created by decree no. ****-*** of April **, ****, classifies the facility's distribution activity according to the annual quantity and fuel type distributed. ICPE regulations apply from *** m* per year.

Facilities dispensing an annual fuel volume over *** m* of petrol or *** m* in total, but less than **,*** m*, must be declared. Facilities dispensing an annual fuel volume over **,*** m* are subject to registration (***).

Service station operators are fuel retailers, generally Conseil National des Professions de l'Automobile (***).in order to carry out their activities following the legislative and regulatory provisions in force, operators must comply with the general rules and technical specifications applicable to service stations subject to declaration or registration, as set out in the decrees of April **, ****. Administrative and penal sanctions are provided for in the event of non-compliance with the provisions of the Environmental Code.

6.1 Market segmentation

• ENI Gaz & Power Groupe
• Agip France (ENI group)
• Total Energies
• Total special fluids
• Carrefour Groupe
• Shell
• Casino Groupe
• Exxonmobil Chemical France
• AVIA International
• BP Britisch Petroleum
• E.Leclerc Stations Service
• Dyneff
• Rubis groupe