Within the scope of the National Protection Law dated February 18, 1941, Petrol Limited Company was transferred to Petrol Ofisi Group. Our company was established with a capital of 2.5 million Turkish liras to take on a controlling role in the fuel market in Türkiye. We started our operations with the nine existing personnel in a two-room flat of Kozluca Han in Karaköy Rıhtım Caddesi, a plain facility building in Çubuklu, Kuruçeşme, İskenderun, and nine dealers inherited from Neft Syndicate.
Our first general manager, Talha Sabuncu, decided to use the she-wolf, one of Turkish mythology's prominent figures, in the institution's logo. Mr. Talha drew a wolf with a curved tongue between his teeth, encircled it in a red ring, and thus the logo of one of Türkiye's most powerful corporations was born.
From the establishment of our company until 1950, all transactions related to the import, stock, and sales of mineral oil were carried out by the Istanbul Regional Directorate. In 1950, the Mineral Oil Branch Directorate, affiliated with the General Directorate, was established. The directorate aimed to meet the mineral oil needs of the Ministry of National Defense and other government organizations in the best way to increase sales through a stable sales price policy.
Our first lubricant factory was established in 1953 as a Lubricant Blending Facility in Derince.
Following the NATO Infrastructure Program, as in other NATO member countries, our company was assigned with the management, operation, maintenance, and protection of the Armed Forces fuel oil facilities and pipelines financed by NATO in Türkiye, as per the decision of the Coordination Committee numbered K/1092, dated 20 May 1957. Thus, the office accepted the establishment of the ANT Presidency.
With the agreement signed on October 22, 1966, we started to refuel Turkish Airlines planes as of January 1, 1967. Our airlift service started its operations in 1967. Per the agreement signed on October 22, 1966, we began to refuel the planes of national organizations such as state airports, THY, MTA, and Land Registry. Allied countries, foreign companies, and multiple agricultural pest control firms benefited from this service abiding by global civil aviation standards.
Our first fleet of Reis and Pilot tankers started operating in 1972.
In 1973, Şeyda Odyakmaz was appointed to Petrol Ofisi and became the first woman CEO appointed to a government agency in the Turkish Republic's history.
With a storage capacity of 95 thousand tons, our Aliağa facilities began their operations on 18 August 1983. Since we supplied goods to all public institutions and the military and had a large dealership organization, the sales potential in mineral oil was also quite high. When the Derince factory’s capacity became insufficient, we decided to build the second factory in Aliağa to be close to the raw material produced in the Aliağa refinery. Construction of the plant began in 1984 and was completed in 1988.
Our first export was a shipment of 12,430 tons of engine lubricants to Iran.
As per the renewal project that took place after the privatization, to meet the ever-increasing consumer demands, we launched the new-generation unleaded super gasoline “Protech” in June 2001 and the high-quality diesel fuel “Prodizel” with the message “The Country’s Air is Changing” in November 2001.
We opened our first Maxima Engine Oil Change Center in Istanbul. As of September 2007, we began to offer oil control and replacement services at the Maxima Engine Oil Change Centers to serve our customers in a clean environment, at affordable prices, and with the guidance of our mineral oil experts. By the end of 2007, we renewed our leadership in the sector with the “world's most environmentally friendly diesel” V/Max Eurodiesel 10, launched in the Turkish and European markets simultaneously.
According to the Petroleum Industry Association (PETDER) data, we managed to carry our leadership in the lubricants and chemicals market, first achieved in 2010 with a market share of 31 percent to its 12th year by regaining the title uninterruptedly until 2021.
According to the "Turkish Business World's Perspective on Mergers and Acquisitions" survey, the acquisition of Petrol Ofisi by Vitol Investment was appointed the “transaction of the year,” gathering 57 percent of the votes. Javed Ahmed, Head of Vitol Investments Division and Chairman of Petrol Ofisi, stated that this acquisition is a powerful opportunity that will enable us to refocus on the future.
Instead of placing ready-made charging units in its stations, we partnered with Voltrun, one of the experts in this field, and created e-POwer as a completely exclusive, unique, and national brand, from its design to its structure. With our perfectionist approach, our electric charging stations e-POwer went into operation in the first quarter of 2018.
We opened our first solar-powered station in Ortakent, Bodrum; Equipped with 153 high-efficiency solar panels, our dealer Paşalılar Petrol’s 42,075 kWp solar system supplies about 70% of the power required to run the entire station.
We implemented the first and only Fuel Safety System (YES), offering a 100% guarantee on quality and full filling in PO/Gas. In line with the reports from Intertek, an independent institution, the Fuel Safety System (YES) guarantees to cover 100% of the repair cost of all malfunctions that may occur in the vehicle due to LPG.
We scored complete success this year by having our innovative products chosen in two segments - the habitual leader of Türkiye's fuel industry and an emerging leader in the lubricants market. According to Republic of Türkiye Energy Market Regulatory Authority EPDK’s 2019 official data, we reclaimed our leadership status with a market share of up to 22.5 percent with our V/Max fuels with Active-3 technology. Our Maxima CX 5W product also regained its title in the lubricants industry, in which it was the leader with a share of over 27 percent, according to Petroleum Industry Association PETDER data. Real consumers also voted thirty other engine oils as the Selected Product of the Year.
With our 120-year brand history and wide product range, we initiated the production of Texaco products at our mineral oil factory in Derince, per the agreement signed with the lubricant giant Chevron Brands International (Chevron).
With this new investment, Petrol Ofisi has doubled the annual production capacity of its lubricant factory in Kocaeli, and the logistics center is expected to meet half of Turkey's lubricant consumption.