Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has introduced mock petrol stations in different shopping malls of the country to train motorists to fill their car’s petrol tanks by using the nozzle without spilling gasoline.
Training of motorists to fill their car tanks is now under way in Sahara Mall Sharjah and Manar Mall in Ras Al Khaimah.
This training process continued in Yas Mall, Abu Dhabi, for nine days and now the machines have been moved to the Northern Emirates.
Adnoc will take two units of prototype petrol filling machine to different malls, municipalities and government departments of the country.
From June 30, Adnoc introduced Flex Services which provide motorists options of free self-service of filling petrol in vehicles and premium service where an attendants fill the tank at a nominal charge of Dh10.
In an exclusive interview with Gulf News on Sunday, Sultan Salem Al Jenaibi, vice-president of Abu Dhabi Emirate Retail Sales of Adnoc Distribution, said these prototype petrol filling units don’t have fuel or water to dispense but are similar to real machines at Adnoc stations in every way.
“We teach people how to hold the nozzle, press it for filling fuel and lock it, and release it when the tank is filled. The objective is to educate people about the self-service at the petrol stations and the shopping malls have been selected for this purpose as a large number of people visit these places. We want people to have an Adnoc wallet and smart tag in their vehicles to pay for the petrol in a smooth way.
“If it’s needed we can increase the number of training machines,” Al Jenaibi said.
Training in driving institutes
Al Jenaibi said all driving institutes of the country will be provided a mock petrol stations where all drivers who seek driving licences will be trained about handling the to fill petrol tanks and make payments at the Adnoc petrol stations in the country.
Adnoc will provide them equipment, tools and information to rightly train their students to fill car tanks themselves at the petrol stations, he said.
Crowd management
Currently, each gas station is divided into premium and self-service lanes but self-service customers are allowed to use premium lane if it’s free to avoid congestion at the petrol station.
“Similarly if a self-service lane is free and a premium lane gets busy, we have instructed the station managers to move customers to other machines. In any way we want to serve customers in the best possible way,” he said.
Adnoc operates 362 petrol stations across the country and plans to open 12 new stations soon, he said.
Car wash
The young generation treat their vehicles with passion and love to fill petrol tanks by themselves. Al Jenaibi said even some people asked us to provide facilities where they can wash their cars themselves — though we have not discussed this option yet.
Home delivery of petrol
A dream of home delivery of petrol will be turned into reality in Abu Dhabi by the end this year or beginning of next year, Al Jenaibi.
A new Adnoc application will be launched especially to deliver petrol to the doorsteps of residents. The Adnoc is currently testing its new service ‘My Station’.
Al Jenaibi said: “ It is a pilot project now and we are seeking feedback from customers. It’s going to be a new service for the city. We have studied such projects being carried out in the United States.
There is a high demand of the service here as well. It’s very simple, an Adnoc person would come to your place and deliver the fuel,” he said. Now we are looking at the best time to launch this service, hopefully by the end of this year and early next year,” Al Jenaibi said.
For example, jet ski operators and boat owners can use the app to order fuel at their place, he said.
Regulations
In the UAE, Adnoc has worked closely with Civil Defence to have clear regulations about the home delivery of petrol. “We have received all required health and safety approvals from the concerned entities. Currently we are running a pilot project for home delivery of petrol," Al Jenaibi said.
Through Adnoc’s app, customers can choose the type of fuel they prefer — Super, Special or E-Plus, and mention a suitable place, date and time for fuel delivery. Then an Adnoc employee will deliver it to them, he said.
