1.5 Activities
Retail & marketing
Rubis Énergie operates in Africa, the Caribbean and Europe, specializing in the distribution of energy and bitumen.
Our aim is to meet the basic needs of populations in terms of mobility, heating, cooking, electricity production, infrastructure construction and other areas, ensuring the long-term accessibility of our products, thanks to the control of the entire logistics chain from supply to the end user.
Through its gas stations, Rubis Énergie supplies fuels, lubricants and liquefied gas cylinders, while offering its customers a range of additional services including car washing, convenience stores and fast food restaurants.
Rubis Énergie has a network of 1,015 gas stations, most of which are operated under the RUBiS and ViTO brands, and mainly located in Africa and the Indian Ocean (52%), and the Caribbean (39%). As 74% of our network is located in regulated markets, the stability of our margins is ensured.
Most of the retail sites are owned by the Group, and all fuel is supplied by Rubis Énergie. Retail customers’ primary concern is quality products and services, and we offer loyalty card programs in this respect.
We also distribute domestic heating oil and liquefied gas directly to our retail customers, offering a wide range of cylinders and tanks depending on their needs. Equipment maintenance and advice on energy saving are also part of the offer.
Lastly, Rubis Énergie supplies a wide range of commercial customers with fuels, lubricants, liquefied gases, bitumen and other by-products, mainly in the transportation, infrastructure, hotel, aviation, marine and public works sectors. These products are essential for the economies of the countries where the Group operates. Rubis generally controls the entire logistics chain, primarily through its support & services activity.
The Group’s strength is its decentralized organization, each local subsidiary being a profit center in its own right. This system ensures that local Managers have a deep understanding of their region and provides for an appropriate investment policy.
This organization has been in place for many years within Rubis Énergie, and has consistently demonstrated its effectiveness. It results in motivated and responsible teams, flexibility allowing reactivity and efficiency, and market share gains.
| • | ensure our positioning through close management of logistics by operating along the entire distribution chain from supply to the end user; |
| • | control our investments by expanding in structurally energy-importing and growth areas, with a dominant position in predominantly regulated markets, thereby ensuring stable margins; |
| • | provide complementary, low-carbon offerings to our various market segments while reducing the carbon footprint of our activities; |
| • | continue to develop projects related to new energies and the energy transition. |
| 2020 highlights | ||
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Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the Group continued its investments, upgrading our facilities (terminals, filling plants, gas stations), developing our activities (cylinders, tanks, logistics and gas stations) and buying out facilities or businesses.
KENYA
Conversion of gas stations to the RUBiS brand, and installation of solar panels on some sites so they can use their own electricity, generated through photovoltaic panels.
HAITI AND MADAGASCAR
Development of micro-filling plants for liquefied gas cylinders to provide as many people as possible with access to this less carbon-intense energy.
NON-FUEL
Development of “non-fuel” services in all gas stations (stores, food service, car washing, vehicle maintenance, etc.).
CLIMATE & NEW ENERGIES
• Development of applications and solutions to promote the use of liquefied gases.
• Launches of new projects related to new energies and the energy transition.
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| 2021 agenda | ||
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While continuing to develop our legacy business lines, we are pursuing our efforts in line with our Climate & New Energies ambition.
SOLAR PANELS Continued installation of solar panels on the roofs of our gas stations to produce less carbon-intense renewable energy (Channel Islands, Caribbean, etc.).
CHANNEL ISLANDS Marketing of HVO, a second-generation biofuel produced from plant-based raw materials, residue or waste, with CO2 emissions at least 50% below those of conventional diesel. The entire vehicle fleet of our Jersey and Guernsey subsidiaries already runs on this renewable diesel.
MADAGASCAR Installation of containerized gas stations to make fuel accessible in isolated areas that are hard to access.
CORSICA Technical feasibility study of an E85 fuel supply (65% to 85% renewable bioethanol).
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Support & services
Rubis Énergie’s support & services activity includes all infrastructure, transportation, supply and services activities supporting downstream distribution and marketing activities. It thus groups together trading-supply, shipping and refining activities (SARA).
The Dubai office continues to study product import options in East Africa, following the acquisition of KenolKobil (now Rubis Energy Kenya) and Gulf Energy, while strengthening synergies with existing subsidiaries.
Today we operate nine vessels on time charter and own five vessels, of which four bitumen tankers and one oil tanker. Following the assessment of future shipping needs in 2019, it has been decided to build two new vessels: namely an oil tanker and a bitumen tanker.
Since 2020, we have gradually been including Sea Cargo Charter clauses in our shipping contracts, which set new benchmarks for responsible shipping and make it possible to integrate climate considerations in order to promote the decarbonization of this mode of transport.
The Antilles refinery (SARA), 71% owned by Rubis Énergie, is located in Martinique and is the sole supplier of petroleum products to three French departments, French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique. In exchange, its prices and profitability are regulated by government decree. It has production capacity of 800,000 tonnes per year, and produces a full range of products complying with European environmental standards: fuels, diesel, liquefied gases and kerosene, tailored to local requirements.
| • | Morbihan (deadweight: 9,150 tonnes), for petroleum products for the Caribbean region; |
| • | Bitu River (deadweight: 15,000 tonnes), a bitumen carrier for West Africa. |
| • | Renovation of the refinery, known as Arrêt métal 2020 (metal shutdown 2020), for a total investment of €55 million. |
| • | Green electricity production (up to 1 MW) with the start-up of a hydrogen fuel cell operation that consumes the refinery’s fatal hydrogen after its purification (GlearGen project). |
SARA has 320 direct employees and the same number of subcontractors. Its facilities are distributed as follows:
SARA took part in the government-promoted Ecology program, working notably on issues related to new energies, such as hydrogen fuel cells, and is working closely with local communities on projects to stop the proliferation of sargassum.
| 2021 agenda | ||
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SHIPPING Delivery of the Morbihan in the last quarter of 2021.
Progressive integration of Sea Cargo Charter clauses in contracts.
SARA Continuation of new energy and circular economy projects (see details in chapter 4, section 4.2.2.3). Commissioning of the Green Water project, which consists of desalinating seawater by reverse osmosis to enable the refinery to cover all of its industrial water needs without using the freshwater network.
FRENCH GUIANA Purchase of 1,000 hectares of land for the development of a planned biological carbon sink.
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Rubis Terminal JV
Following the signing of a partnership agreement with infrastructure fund I Squared Capital, Rubis Terminal is now 55%-owned by Rubis SCA and has been accounted for using the equity method since April 30, 2020, bringing a new growth driver to our storage activity. The acquisition of Tepsa by the Rubis Terminal JV in October 2020 is a perfect illustration of the success of the alliance.
As a specialist in the storage of bulk liquid products for its customers (supermarkets, oil groups, chemical and petrochemical companies, traders, etc.), the Rubis Terminal JV boasts high-performance assets adapted to market developments. Operating in five countries and the leader in France, the Rubis Terminal JV offers storage capacity of 4.6 million m3, broken down between fuels and biofuels, chemical products, fertilizers, edible oils and molasses, generating sales revenues from storage of €231 million and EBITDA from storage of €126 million (including the acquisition of Tepsa over 12 months and 50% of Antwerp).
Thanks to this partnership, the Rubis Terminal JV intends to pursue its development on four pillars:
| • | increasing the share of revenues generated by less carbon-intense liquid products stored in its terminals, in anticipation of market needs (biofuels, LNG, etc.); |
| • | consolidating its strategic positions in Europe by being a major player in the market; |
| • | developing its terminals in the ARA (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp) zone and in Spain, making full use of the expansion possibilities of existing sites; |
| • | seizing international development opportunities, leveraging its business line skills. |
