Number of petrol stations in the United Kingdom (UK) 2018, by brand

Premium-Statistic | By the end of 2018, the British multinational oil and gas firm BP owned 1,228 petrol stations in the United Kingdom. The only other brands across the nation with more than 1,000 sites were Esso and Shell. Although BP owned the largest number of sites, 59 were closed between 2017 and 2018. In comparison, Esso increased their number of petrol stations by 95.

Majority of fuel sold at supermarkets

Although large oil and gas companies owned more petrol stations than any other brands, it was supermarkets that sold the largest volumes of fuel. By November 2018, Sainsbury’s had sold approximately 11,809 kiloliters, with Tesco close behind. In comparison, BP sold 4,311 kiloliters. It is easy to see why, when fuel prices from supermarkets are consistently cheaper than the UK average.

European comparisons
At the end of 2017, the number of petrol stations in the UK amounted to 8,422. However, despite being of a comparative physical size, this was significantly less than in Italy where there were more than 20,000 sites across the country.