Bristol’s Royal Portbury Dock has imported its 10 millionth tonne of jet fuel, underpinning its position as one of the UK’s leading ports.
The state-of-the-art import facilities at Royal Portbury opened in 2003 as a partnership between the Oil Pipeline Agency and The Bristol Port Company. Today they are owned by fuel importer Q8Aviation, which brings in the fuel from Kuwait in large tankers and stores it in tanks at the port before transferring it to a storage centre at London’s Heathrow Airport via the GPSS (Government Pipelines and Storage System).
Mark Welch, Q8Aviation supply and logistics manager and former project manager for Royal Portbury Dock said: “We are delighted with the success of our operation at Bristol Port. Q8Aviation’s investment in import facilities across Europe is an important part of our strategy to achieve greater control over our fuel supply chain and allows us to enter markets that are dependent on fuel imports owing to diminishing local refining capability.
“The reliability of our supply chain gives our customers reassurance and has contributed greatly to the success of our business.
“Ten million tonnes is almost equivalent to the total volume of jet fuel consumed in the whole of the UK each year, and so it is certainly a substantial amount.”
Q8Aviation, owned by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), one of the world’s leading oil producers, provides a fuel supply service to 13 UK airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester, as well as a network of fast-growing regional airports.
Its Portbury operation is a key part of its supply chain which runs ‘from well head to wing tip’.
As well as Portbury, Surrey-based Q8Aviation, the largest importer of jet fuel into North West Europe, has import facilities at the ports of Le Havre , Rotterdam and Koper in Slovenia . Q8Aviation is
Pictured: Simon Bird , CEO of The Bristol Port Company (left) with Q8Aviation's Mark Welch at Royal Portbury Dock.
