logo-loader

Eurocontrol's Petromark system leads to significant jump in Albanian tax revenue

Published: 10:26 21 Oct 2014 EDT

gasoline_retailers350_54466d4648b5e

Eurocontrol Technics Group (CVE:EUO) says the Albanian press has attributed the increase of fuel tax revenue in the region to the company's fuel marking system called Petromark, which has resulted in an approximate tax revenue gain of US$11 million.

Eurocontrol’s Petromark system, which is controlled by Eurocontrol’s wholly owned subsidiary Global Fluids International, works to identify fuel that has been tampered with --- for example diluted with lower grade fuel, propane, water or even urine --- but in a covert way, without the use of coloured dyes. 

The end result is a reduction in the reported cases of fuel adulteration,  which is a growing problem for governments worldwide with annual global losses from the illicit trade of fuels are currently estimated at over US$200 billion per year. 

Global Fluids' process works with molecular markers that cannot be copied or removed, which is then injected at the terminal or pipeline with high precision parts per million concentrations. The marker, which is invisible to others and stable even in extreme environmental conditions, can be traced at any point in the supply chain, with small samples of the fuel tested at gas stations for immediate results. The technology is the only one in the world that has an ISO 17025 accreditation, meaning it is of sufficient forensic quality to be admissible into a court of law for evidence. 

The fuel marking system was introduced by the government of Albania in September 2013, for both refined fuels and crude oil, in efforts to curb the adulteration of fuels.

According to reports in the Albanian press, Albania's general director of customs released a report that indicated the national retail fuel consumption increased by 20 percent in official marketed volumes in September 2014 compared to the same month last year, representing a rough increase in tax revenues of US$11 million for that month.

Eurocontrol said this increase in tax revenue is based only on the marking of refined fuels. 

The full project includes crude oil marking as well, which would add about 1.5 billion litres annually, for a total project size of approximately 2.2 billion litres. The Albanian government has yet to fully implement the monitoring and enforcement aspect of the project, according to Eurocontrol's release.

"Based on the increase in tax revenues for September 2014, full year tax revenue improvements could be over US$100 million," said chief executive officer Bruce Rowlands.

"We look forward to full implementation of Petromark, including crude oil to further increase tax revenues for the Government and people of Albania."          

Eurocontrol, which is based in Toronto, is expected to generate about $8 million in revenue this year, of which approximately 75% is recurring revenue, up from $6.5 million in 2013. Approximately three quarters of Eurocontrol’s revenue comes from its fuel marking business, with the company also owning two other subsidiaries.

ARway.ai announces multiple new SaaS developer contracts in both the United...

ARway.ai (CSE:ARWY, OTCQB:ARWYF) Chief Executive Officer Evan Gappelberg joined Steve Darling from Proactive to announce multiple new SaaS developer sign-ups for its augmented reality experience platform, focusing on AR indoor navigation. These partnerships represent significant milestones in...

2 minutes ago