The UK forecourt network has shrunk by less than 90 sites in the past year, according to figures released by Experian Catalist today.

There are now 8,677 open forecourts, compared to 8,765 this time last year, showing that the rate of site closures has slowed slightly, as site numbers fell by 119 the previous year.

GB Oils has overtaken BP as market leader in terms of site numbers following its acquisitions of Pace and Total. It now has 1,199 forecourts including 476 Total, 305 Gulf, 135 Pace, 95 UK, 73 Power and 23 Scottish Fuels, plus 92 other brands. BP now has 1,175 sites, an increase of six forecourts.

Esso, Jet and Shell have taken the greatest hit on site mumbers, losing 32, 48 and 37 respectively. After GB Oils, Harvest Energy has made the biggest inroads with the addition of 53 dealer sites, and Murco has added 25 forecourts.

Tesco has grown its volume share leadership to 15.5% with only 492 petrol stations. BP’s volume share is 14.9%, while GB Oils is in eighth place in volume terms with 6.4% market share.

The average fuel volume on dealer sites is 2.28mlpa, while hypermarkets are selling an average of 11.2mlpa, and company-owned sites 4.77mlpa.