The U.K. expansion is in addition to the planned purchase of 132 Co-op sites. Asda today announced plans to open 300 convenience stores in the U.K. and create 10,000 new jobs by the end of 2026 as it looks to expand its Asda Express format as part of a long-term strategy to become the U.K.’s second-largest supermarket. The company’s second Asda Express c-store opened today in Tottenham Hale, north London, in a residential development adjacent to a tube and overground transit station. New locations are planned next year in Wiltshire, Essex and Surrey, Asda shared. The 300-store target doesn’t include Asda’s planned purchase of 132 Co-op stores with attached petrol stations, a deal valued at about 600 million pounds (US$729 million), which includes IFRS16 lease liabilities of roughly 162 million pounds. “A key part of our growth strategy is to provide customers with more opportunities to shop at Asda closer to where they live…

BP chief executive Bernard Looney is betting on hydrogen to power future low-carbon businesses as the governments of major economies stump up cash to develop the fuel to decarbonise. Low-carbon hydrogen already has a big fan-base and is forecast to play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from heavy industries and some forms of transport. But it is expensive to produce and often needs government support to compete against fossil fuels. The United States, for example, is offering large incentives for producing it under President Joe Biden’s $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). BP (BP.L) has been quick to react and is in the early planning stages to develop a large, low-carbon hydrogen hub around its Whiting, Indiana refinery, Tomeka McLeod, BP’s newly-appointed head of hydrogen in the United States, told Reuters. When Looney took office nearly three years ago, he pledged to reshape BP and cut carbon…

Officers from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Queensland Police Service, and Queensland Department of Health have this week executed search warrants against businesses suspected of supplying illicit tobacco on the Sunshine Coast. The ATO seized over 270,000 illicit cigarettes and 33 kilograms of loose leaf tobacco from 3 retail tobacconists in Maroochydore, Dicky Beach and Currimundi and a storage facility in Maroochydore. Queensland Department of Health officers also seized over 9,000 illegal vape products. Three individuals were arrested and charged by Queensland Police. A 54-year-old Caboolture man and a 36-year-old Caboolture woman were charged with two counts of possession of tobacco 5kgs or above, four counts of selling or supplying tobacco products in non-compliant retail packaging and two counts of receiving tainted property. A 49-year-old Manly West woman was charged with one count each of selling or supplying tobacco products in non-compliant retail packaging and receiving tainted property. Acting Deputy Commissioner Jade Hawkins welcomed the…

If EVs are so good, why do we need to subsidise them and ban petrol and diesel alternatives? Climate activists and politicians constantly tell us electric cars are cleaner, cheaper and better. Many countries, including Germany, Britain and Japan, even will prohibit the sale of new petrol and diesel cars within a decade or two. But if electric cars are really so good, why do we need to ban the alternatives? And why do we need to subsidise electric cars to the tune of $US30bn ($44.6bn) a year? The reality is far more muddled than the boosters of electric cars would have you believe. Carbon emissions from an electric car depend on whether it is recharged with clean or coal power. Moreover, battery manufacturing requires masses of energy, which mostly is produced today with coal in China. That is why the International Energy Agency estimates that an electric car using…

South Australia’s largest petrol station chain will be able to sell alcohol through its app after a successful appeal to the state’s licensing court. Key points: The state’s liquor commissioner had earlier this year knocked back an application by OTR to sell delivered alcohol because of concerns it could be used by children and that it would normalise buying alcohol because of the company’s focus so far on selling petrol, food and other convenience items. OTR has more than 160 service stations, along with some convenience stores, in South Australia and north-west Victoria. In a judgement published by the Licensing Court of South Australia yesterday, Judge Brian Gilchrist said the commissioner’s decision was “inconsistent” with approvals for similar direct sales liquor licences granted to Coles and Woolworths. Judge Gilchrist granted OTR a liquor licence, overturning Commissioner Dini Soulio’s decision. Alcohol is not allowed to be sold in supermarkets or convenience stores…

The migration to electric vehicles means convenience stores must reinvent themselves.  Historically high gas prices, new electric vehicle (EV) models, government sales incentives and the desire to become more sustainable are pushing more consumers toward EVs. Some states, including California, are moving toward EVs to meet environmental goals, and plan to stop selling gas-powered vehicles altogether by 2035. Experts predict that the EV market will more than double by 2027, and that 45 percent of new car sales will be electric by 2035. Since fuel revenue has historically been so significant for c-stores, the migration to EVs means convenience stores must reinvent themselves. This means transitioning from a grab-and-go model that’s a 10-minute stop — where customers gas up their cars, then grab cigarettes, beer and a prepackaged snack for the road — to a destination, where they hang out for an hour or more to shop, eat, work and charge their cars.   The…