Components of a Fuel Marking Program
Design and conceptualisation of the National Program
Fuel Marking is new to many nations. Our expertise is available to government authorities to participate in the program development and to have conversations on topics such as:
- Which fuel types are most at risk.
- How many markers are required to achieve the desired results without over-complicating the scope while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
- The legislative landscape required to support the program (policy, legislation, regulations).
- Which government entity is best placed to own the program, such as the finance ministry (customs, revenue services), energy ministry, the national regulator – or a combination.
Implementation & daily operations
The on-site or field activities that combine to form a national fuel marking solution are:
- Fuel quality control procedures: Most important in land-locked countries, these procedures are put in place to check that the fuel to be marked is acceptable from a quality perspective. Typically FMI’s processes verify the volume with temperature and density. We can also test for water content, sulphur, the flash point, octane and cetane numbers, or any other tests required. If determined to be acceptable, marking takes place.
- Marking the fuel: different tax types of fuel (retail, exempt, subsidised, transit and kerosene) are typically each marked with a unique marker so that each one can be distinguished from the other. The FMI marking operations would be positioned at the point at which fuel enters the tax jurisdiction. The tax type would be determined, and then the relevant marker added to the fuel in proportion to the quantity to establish a known benchmarked marker concentration.
- Testing / monitoring activities: FMI operations ensure that monitoring of fuel at all points of consumption (such as at retail sites) takes place according to an agreed frequency. Any incorrect marker concentration that is detected during monitoring operations is evidence of non-compliance, and enforcement is triggered.
- Enforcement actions: these actions are typically performed by the government’s regulator or law enforcement agency using the test results. Enforcement takes place on site immediately upon receipt of a failed test result which constitutes proof of illegal activity.
Management & support activities
The following support activities take place concurrently to ensure the success of the field activities:
- Program administration and management, including logistics, marker control, talent management, financial administration and technology maintenance.
- Information management, from the data capture to reporting and sophisticated algorithm-driven analytics. This occurs at all points along the operational process, with real time information available to all stakeholders.