Intertek Awarded Fuel Quality Monitoring Program in Portugal

12 Apr 2010

Intertek, a leading provider of quality and safety solutions serving a wide range of industries around the world, has been awarded the Portugal national Fuel Quality Monitoring System (FQMS) contract by the Direcção Regional de Economia (DRE), which is under the Ministry of Economy and Development. The FQMS program assesses the quality of petrol and automotive diesel fuel marketed in Portugal and available to motorists and consumers, under the European Union fuel quality standards EN 14274.

While fuel retailers also conduct their own tests for the fuels that they sell, the DRE also uses Intertek to conduct random fuel sampling to help ensure consistent quality in the automotive fuels sold to consumers across the country. This is the first time the DRE has extended the program to cover the entire national territory. Similar FQMS government programmes are run by Intertek in Spain and France, along with independent programmes run for petroleum and fuel retail companies throughout Europe.

The Portuguese FQMS programme is run twice a year, with a minimum number of samples taken during the summer and the winter periods to determine fuel quality. Intertek inspectors attend sites across the country, take samples, analyse them at independent Intertek fuel testing laboratories and then provide the results back to the DRE.

Jaime Martins, General Manager of Intertek Portugal Oil Chemical and Agri services, said “Intertek provides independent, professional fuel sampling and transportation testing throughout Portugal to support the government in its mission to ensure consistent retail fuel quality. With fuel quality testing done in our laboratory in Sines, and Octane and Cetane rating testing done in the Intertek Antwerp fuel laboratory, we provide comprehensive world-class support to the programme”.

Jay Gutierrez, Chief Executive for the Oil, Chemical, Agri and Government Services Division, added “We are proud to help the Portuguese government assure the quality of the diesel and gasoline fuels used by consumers. Fuel supply chains are complex with fuel products changing hands many times. FQMS programmes help governments and fuel companies ensure their consumers and the public get fuels that meet the standards needed to not damage their automobiles, and meet required regulatory and environmental standards and requirements for petroleum refined fuels and biofuels“.

Learn about Intertek’s fuel testing services at:

Contact Intertek

Jaime Grave Martins (Portugal)
General Manager - Portugal
Oil, Chemical and Agri Division
Tel: +351 269750121
Email: Jaime.gravemartins@intertek.com

Maitane Hernández (Spain)
Intertek Spain Marketing Coordinator
Tel: +34 94 611 35 36
Email: Maitane.hernandez@intertek.com

Erik Holladay (USA)
Global Marketing Director
Oil, Chemical and Agri Division
Tel: 713 407 3500
Email: testingservices@intertek.com

About Intertek

Intertek is a leading provider of quality and safety solutions serving a wide range of industries around the world.

From auditing and inspection, to testing, quality assurance and certification, Intertek people are dedicated to adding value to customers' products and processes, supporting their success in the global marketplace.

Intertek has the expertise, resources and global reach to support its customers through its network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 25,000 people in more than 100 countries around the world.

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