Gull Concentrates On Two Grades Of Ethanol

Gull Concentrates On Two Grades Of Ethanol
And Primarily Domestically Produced Fuel

Auckland 15 February 2013 - Gull New Zealand confirmed that it will no longer be adding ethanol as an ingredient to its Regular 91 grade petrol. Ethanol will still be added to Gull Force 10 (98 Octane premium petrol with 10% ethanol) and remain the primary ingredient in Gull Force Pro (85% ethanol blended product).

Growth in site numbers, increasing Gull Force 10 sales, introducing Gull Force Pro at retail outlets and sales to the Motorsport community have all contributed to the demand for ethanol at Gull.

Gull New Zealand General Manager Dave Bodger says there is simply not enough ethanol to go around.

"We have been buying basically all the ethanol that Fonterra can make for us for some time now, and this has been supplemented with imported Ethanol from sustainable sources. Balancing imported ethanol with Fonterra’s seasonal production has been tricky.

"For the time being we will stop importing bulk ethanol (on a regular basis) and allocate the New Zealand produced fuel (supplemented by a smaller level of imports where necessary) across two ethanol blended grades rather than three.

"As a result we will cease blending ethanol into our Regular Plus grade fuel. Until now 14 Gull sites offered Regular 91 that included ethanol. These sites will revert to selling Regular 91 petrol with no added ethanol.

"New Zealand made ethanol will now be only used in our premier products; 98 Octane Gull Force 10 and Ultra High Octane Gull Force Pro," summarises Bodger.

Pricing will not change at the 14 of 53 sites currently selling Regular Plus, and Gull Force 10 will remain available at 49 of Gulls 53 branded outlets.

"We anticipate a time in the future where we will be back to blending ethanol with Regular grade petrol. The fuel is renewable and a great product," says Bodger.

"It’s just that getting supplies in the right quantities is problematic; our own growth has not helped this and we anticipate this to continue. So for now we will concentrate on Gull Force 10 and Gull Force Pro as our grades containing ethanol."

ENDS

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