UK poll reports switch from Esso fuel, Esso denies

UK: September 5, 2002

LONDON - A significant number of British motorists have stopped buying petrol from Esso stations and have switched to other retailers, following a campaign to associate the company with global warming, a survey said.

But an Esso UK spokesman said the company's retail business had not been affected. "We have seen no discernible impact on our forecourt sales," he said. The Greenpeace-commissioned survey by polling agency MORI in July this this year showed 19 percent of UK petrol buyers regularly bought the motor fuel from Exxon Mobil subsidiary Esso, compared to 26 percent in an August 2001 poll.

Those buying from rival retailer BP rose to 21 percent from 18 percent last year, the survey said.

"The change is statistically significant, beyond the margins of error," said John Leaman, head of environment research at MORI.

The poll also asked people if they would stop buying from Esso, given the campaign by environmentalists against the oil major, and five percent said they had already stopped while 47 percent said they would if asked.

"One of the things in people's minds was an awareness of Esso being criticised and a corresponding drop in people buying Esso," Leaman told Reuters.

The poll sampled 998 adults in 191 places across Great Britain.

A StopEsso campaign, co-ordinated by various environmental groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, has twice targeted UK Esso stations in the last year with thousands of protesters.

Esso's parent company U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil has come under fire from environmental groups and politicians for opposing the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change.

They allege that intense lobbying by powerful firms like Exxon contributed to the U.S. pulling out of the deal last year, as well as to a watered down deal on commitments to increasing renewable energy at this week's Earth Summit in Johannesburg.

The company denies it is unconcerned by global warming and says that it is tackling the issue on a number of other fronts.

Industry experts said the campaign's impact on Esso's profits was likely to be limited as UK motor fuel sales were a very small part of the company's global turnover.

"Fuel is a necessity - I personally believe only very few people would drive past an Esso station to another," said Ray Holloway of the Petrol Retailers Association. "The choice is limited now," he said, adding 842 forecourts closed last year.

Story by Neil Chatterjee

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE