(MENAFN- Arab Times) The international arm of Kuwait Petroleum, Q8, on Thursday took another big step and major milestone in strengthening and expanding its presence in Europe by opening its first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) service station in Belgium. The station is situated at Schoten outside the city of Antwerp, 60 kms north of Brussels. It was inaugurated by Khaled Al Mushaileh, vice-president Europe for Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd (Q8) in the presence of Azzam Al Mutawa, managing director Q8 North West Europe, the mayor of Schoten Maarten De Veuster and other local officials and Q8 employees. "I feel very proud, for Q8 is serving the community, serving the environment. We are a good customer and a good business company that can help the environment in Belgium as well as all over the world," Al Mushaileh told KUNA.
"We are expanding in Belgium as well as in Benelux area and Spain. We are also focusing not only to concentrate on the fuel but also CNG. We are keen to work with the private and government sectors to improve the environmental landmark," he said. In his inaugural speech, Al Mushaileh said the opening of the CNG station in Schoten "is an important strategic step for Q8 in Benelux which is fully supported by Kuwait Petroleum International." "As one of the largest oil companies in the world, we take our environment policy seriously," he stressed noting that CNG is environmentally friendly and safe. For his part, Al Mutawa told KUNA: "we are very proud to open our first CNG station in Belgium. We have a good partnership with the community of Schoten as they are very environmental friendly.
" "We believe that CNG is a very strong imitative for alternative fuels. It is good for the environment. It fits perfectly the sustainability strategy of Q8 which is in line with the strategy of KPI," he said. "It is very interesting from a price perspective. With a full tank you can drive over 500 kms and with a hybrid natural gas motor even up to 1000 kms. The CNG technology is very safe and you can park your CNG car everywhere," noted Al Mutawa. He noted that Q8 is due to open four more CNG stations in Belgium this year. Maarten De Veuster, mayor of Schoten said: "we are proud as the community of Schoten to host this new installation. We welcome Q8 and we hope that they make a successful business out of it." "We are trying to be as environmental -friendly as possible. We have recently bought a car of our own driven by CNG. This is part of the contribution to our environmental policy," he told KUNA.
"By opening our very first CNG station, we are responding to the increasing demand of Belgian drivers for a more sustainable and secure fuel," Koen Vankelst, retail director of Q8 Western Europe told the ceremony. "We believe that CNG will become more and important in the market and we fully support its further development and growth," he said. Natural gas is gaining popularity in Belgium. In 2013, only 190 cars were registered in the country but today about 2000 CNG cars have been registered. Worldwide, there are over 20 million private and company CNG cars already in use. The top Q8 Kuwaiti managers inspected the site and were briefed on how the CNG station functions. Al Mushaileh along with the mayor De Veuster also took a ride in a CNG car.
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