The traditional filling station may soon look very different in Nigeria as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited begins reshaping its retail network around technology, alternative energy and greater convenience for motorists.
The company plans to deploy between 50 and 70 smart, self-service filling stations across the country within the next six months, building on a new retail model that brings petrol, gas, electric vehicle charging and other customer services together in a single location.
The direction of the transformation became clearer in Abuja on Thursday when NNPC commissioned a technology-driven service station along Bill Clinton Drive, Airport Road. The facility, described as one of the first of a new generation of outlets, is designed to operate 24 hours a day and incorporates electric vehicle charging into a conventional fuel retail environment.
Speaking at the commissioning, NNPC’s Executive Vice President, Downstream, Mumuni Dagazau, said the company was moving away from the idea of a filling station as simply a place to buy petrol.
He said NNPC already had about four or five similar smart stations in Abuja, while another two were being launched in Kano. The company, he added, expects to take the concept to a much larger number of locations over the next six months.
At the heart of the new model is the idea of an energy hub capable of serving motorists using different energy sources. Petrol and gas will remain part of the offering, while electricity and electric vehicle charging will increasingly become features of NNPC’s retail network.
The newly commissioned Abuja facility provides a practical example of how that model is expected to work. It has storage capacity for 180,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit and 45,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil, with 16 PMS pumps and two AGO pumps.
Six electric vehicle points have been installed in partnership with African Motor Works, while the entire station is powered by solar energy through a system with a capacity of more than 200 kilowatts.
The facility is also being developed as a mobility and convenience centre. Its services include a quick-service restaurant, coffee shop, automated car wash, modern service bay and LPG dispensing facilities. NNPC also plans to introduce CNG and a vehicle conversion centre.
For motorists, one of the most noticeable departures from the conventional station experience will be self-service fuel dispensing. Customers who choose to serve themselves will be able to purchase fuel through a mobile application and dispense the exact quantity paid for directly into their vehicle.
The digital system is not intended to shut out customers who are less comfortable with technology. Shettima Baba-Kukawa, Executive Director, Retail Operations and Mobility, NNPC Limited, said attendants would remain available to provide assistance.
That balance between automation and human support also addresses concerns about the effect of self-service stations on employment. Dagazau dismissed the suggestion that the new model would eliminate jobs, arguing that the range of services would create additional roles.
Workers would be needed to support the automation and integration of the different systems, assist customers using electric vehicles and maintain the technology behind the energy hubs. In his assessment, such facilities could require more personnel than conventional filling stations because they provide substantially more services.
For NNPC, the ambition is clear: to ensure that its retail network evolves with the energy market and with the expectations of the Nigerian consumer. The next six months will provide an important test of how quickly that vision can move from a handful of showcase facilities to a nationwide reality.
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