ESSO OWNER Exxon-Mobil has dismissed speculation in the motor fuel sector that the sale of its forecourt network in the US will ultimately lead to the disposal of its 48 company-owned service stations in Ireland.

While industry insiders point out that the sale to the Topaz consortium of the Shell network in Ireland three years ago followed the sale of Shell’s US forecourts, a spokesman for Exxon-Mobil said it would be wrong to draw parallels with that case.

In addition to its company-owned stations, Esso has another 120 deal-owned and operated stations in Ireland.

“It has no implications for our business in Ireland,” a company spokesman said of the oil giant’s decision last week to sell off its 2,220 company-owned stations in the US over several years.

“We have been there [in Ireland] for over 100 years, and we have invested heavily in the business. The decision in the US does not signal any specific change in any of the global retail business markets other than the US.”

Topaz followed its acquisition of Shell’s 45 company-owned stations in Ireland with the purchase in 2006 of the Statoil network, leading to speculation at that time that Texaco would put its forecourts on the market. That did not happen.

Exxon-Mobil, the world’s largest publicly-traded oil company, is leaving the retail petrol business in the US as exceptionally high crude oil prices squeeze already-low margins in that business. The company’s portfolio includes 850 stations it operates. – (Additional reporting: Reuters)