ENOC to cut Dubai fuel station opening hours

Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) is set to reduce operating hours at some of its fuel stations as part of a cost cutting programme.

The company announced on Wednesday that it will implement revised night working hours at selected sites within its retail network in Dubai.

It said in a statement that the move was part of the company's "concerted initiatives to promote cost optimisation measures".

The affected ENOC sites are located in Al Aweer and Ittihad Road near Gargash Roundabout and the EPPCO sites located opposite Dubai Airport Free Zone Metro Station, Al Qusais; Al Wahida Road near Century Mall; Jumeirah Road opposite Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The sites will now function from 6am to midnight, and have been selected based on their relatively low footfall during the night and proximity to other retail sites, ENOC said.

The revised night shifts will begin on Thursday, with ENOC to evaluate the results on a periodic basis.

Burhan Al Hashemi, managing director of ENOC Retail, said: "As part of our cost and operational optimisation measures, we have been monitoring the night footfall at our stations.

"We have identified several sites that are ably supported by nearby stations and have relatively low footfall at night. We have therefore introduced a revised work shift at these stations during the night hours."

He added, "We expect the initiative to further enhance our overall cost and operational efficiencies, with minimal inconvenience to our customers."

He said the move would also enable ENOC to divert manpower from less busy sites to busier ones.