Based in Cairns, Queensland, Nqpetro was born in a small shed in 2004, starting with two full-time staff and a casual office assistant.
Several of its major fuel installation projects over the years throughout north Queensland saw business pick up, and by supplying a quality product, Nqpetro was able to grow the team considerably in a short period of time. Within 10 years of operation the business was able to increase its staff to 35 employees and move into a larger premises to start servicing the fuel tanker market.
In 2014, Nqpetro became the Cairns authorised distributor for Liquip, which allowed the company to achieve further growth.
Nqpetro Workshop Manager, Steven Gibney, says the company went from being a service company to building petrol stations and regional depots across Australia. And, with these locations requiring a large usage of Liquip equipment, it made sense to request and partner with Liquip to become a distributor for far north Queensland.
“Once we became a Liquip distributor, we were actually able to branch out to the fuel tanker, depot and terminal space and it’s helped the business grow from there,” Steven says. “Liquip has the largest product offering of equipment that we would use on the tanker trucks and in the depots and terminals, and having a direct relationship with the Liquip head office has been really beneficial to us.”
As a result, what started out as relying on a few truck parts and loading arms has developed into a broad application of Liquip equipment across Nqpetro’s fuel tanker business.
Along with routine checks and inspections, Nqpetro also offers specialised technical installations, repairs and support in the transport and handling of fuels, customised storage and refuelling systems – with remote access monitoring setups from small 1,000-litre tanks to multiple 110,000-litre tanks. By continuing its relationship with Liquip and by promoting the sales of products while offering service, support and feedback to its own customers, Nqpetro is now beginning to branch out even further.
“We’re now developing custom storage solutions for mine sites, remote areas and even truck stops where there are container tanks with loading arms, pumping systems and card readers, so it’s important to us to have a supplier we can rely on,” Steven says.
Since becoming a distributor of Liquip, Nqpetro’s Cairns workshop has grown to include a dedicated three-lane drive through area for trucks up to full B-doubles, along with a full fabrication workshop and warehousing for a comprehensive range of Liquip products to be kept in stock. Due to its size, remoteness and backing by Liquip, Nqpetro now has the ability to fully support Liquip products throughout the north Queensland area.
Before joining the team at Nqpetro, Steven was working for Liquip in its Sydney head office between 2003 and 2006. By being directly involved with the company, its processes and services, Steven was able to experience the superiority of the Liquip brand himself.
“Liquip is such a huge part of the Australian fuelling market and I am glad to be have gone full circle and be dealing with them again down the line,” he says. “It’s definitely been a good coincidence and a carry on of where I was and where I am now.”
According to Steven, the reason Liquip has been so successful is because of its ability to evolve and meet market demands.
“Their equipment has been around that much longer and there’s been a lot more research and development involved in it,” he says. “The equipment is just better designed, with better material, and there is more thought going into the process of the design. And even though Liquip takes up a large proportion of the market, they are always continuing the development of the equipment as they go.”
In addition, despite catering to most of the fuelling builds in Australia, helping out customers like Nqpetro is still a top priority for Liquip. Steven says this commitment to aftersales service was noticed in Nqpetro’s earlier dealings and it has been present ever since.
“When Nqpetro first started out doing all these regional depots for fuel storage, Liquip forked out a lot when it came to the designing of the loading equipment,” he says. “They were quite helpful in those days and they’re still very helpful to this day. It’s not a chore for them to help out. We’ve always been able to contact them and it’s always a quick answer with a very clear and concise response as well. They have always taken on any criticisms or any issues we’ve had, and I think that’s one of the reasons why they’ve gotten to where they are and why they remain to be so successful within the industry.”
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