Are your service stations ready for the future?

In order to limit climate change we need to reduce our carbon footprint/CO2 emissions and decarbonize the energy sector on a global and universal scale. Despite the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19, we see oil and gas companies continue to make progress toward a lower-carbon future.

In ‘Fueling the future’ KPMG researches how to prepare downstream oil and gas industry for the mobility revolution. As a software partner for the energy sector ICASA wants to be a pioneer, and invested years ago in developing one innovative platform for the full and central management of all types of energy (traditional fuels as well as electrical charging, LNG/CNG and hydrogen) in order to evolve with the market trends and its customers.

As technologies in the line of renewable energy are rapidly evolving, it’s even more important to keep tabs on and to be able to quickly respond to the varying needs of companies. With the ICASA Suite we aim at guiding our customers throughout the energy transition in supporting all energy types and in facilitating the fundamental shift and transition from Saas (Software as a Service) over FaaS (Forecourt as a Service) to MaaS (Mobility as a Service) in which we can function as an overall mobility supplier for our customers and end users.

Below some highlights. Follow this link to read the full KPMG research*.

Profound impact on fuel retail

Electrical vehicles (EVs), autonomous vehicles (AVs), shared economy business models such as Mobility as a Service (MaaS), social changes like urbanization and the influence of younger generations represent rapidly developing trends which will have a profound impact on fuel retail and will disrupt the downstream companies in the coming years.

Mobility sharing — Mobility on demand

Younger generations Y (Millennials) and Z are more willing to use self-driving technology than Gen X and the Boomers. Generation Z is also interested in mobility sharing or co-ownership, 56% are interested in unmanned mobility, and the same number is interested in mobility on demand. Gen Y and Z are known as ‘green generations’ and are loyal to and willing to pay more for brands that embrace sustainability, making them enthusiastic customers for electric AV MaaS providers. The penetration of transportation-on-demand companies such as Uber demonstrates that MaaS has already made a huge impact in urban settings, allowing families to decide they need only one car, or none at all.

Future refueling patterns

Retail asset ownership presents particular challenges, especially given the trend among major players to re-integrate into retail sites in light of shrinking demand. Yet, in a future world of centralized fleets and at-home, overnight electric refueling, the role and value for these sites diminished. Retail owners need to stay agile in order to optimize the value of their current assets while identifying appropriate sites to acquire or retain that are fit for future refueling patterns.

Value of data & analytics

Data is nothing new to the energy sector, but new sources are ready to be mined with existing infrastructure. For example, security cameras already in use at gas stations can capture license plates, and with minimal investment in software, identify repeat customers and even greater details about them. From there, fuel retailers can customize offers. By using data and analytics, retail can not only improve margins, it can begin to build the right mix of products and services for customers who will need less and less gasoline over time as more hybrid and fully electric cars hit the road, and MaaS takes off.

Comeback of CoCo model

The CoCo model (company-owned and company-operated) is making a comeback. After years of shifting to CoDo (dealer-operated) and eventually DoDo (dealer-owned) retail locations to reduce capital expenditures, oil companies are looking at the CoCo model as a way to hold on to the retail customer base and gain greater control and insight into their retail operations. Part of serving an AV EV fleet may be monitoring the sensors of these connected cars, and servicing the hardware and software now under the hood. Finally, retail fuel business transformation comes full circle back to data analytics, as oil and gas companies should think of their data as an asset they can monetize in addition to improving their own operations.

Are you ready for the future?

The ICASA Suite is guiding its customers technologically through their transition to multi-energy – traditional fuels as well as electrical charging, LNG/CNG and hydrogen. It provides the necessary HOS/BOS support for all energy types, so adding EV chargers is just another extension of the scope of the suite for our customers, enabling a full management of all energies within one system. More and more customers of the ICASA Suite are evolving in this multi-energy approach and are currently involved in electrical charging and hydrogen projects.

Do you need help in getting your service stations ready for the future? Just reach out and we’ll gladly guide you through any multi-energy challenges you might have.

*Source: KPMG — Fueling the future