Molong BP undergoing facelift for new Pearl Energy service station

Ketul Patel is "very excited" to be bringing a fresh feel to the area, with the retail manager for BP North Orange to also be a new face at the old Molong BP.

The site's brand conversion to Pearl Energy started in early March and its full transformation is anticipated to be complete by mid-April.

"We are expecting completion for after Easter, so we're hoping in two to three weeks time we will have everything going," Mr Patel said.

"We've just had a new cool room installed with window tinting and colour changes still to come for the building, a little bit of grey colouring with the new Pearl Energy branding."

Joining another site in Orange, one in Tomingley and two in both Bathurst and Nyngan, the independent Pearl Energy company currently has 88 sites in Australia - 58 in New South Wales, 28 in Queensland and two in Victoria.

It is affiliated with major supply partners Mobil Oil, Ampol Australia Ltd and BP Australia.

"[Pearl Energy] is definitely getting bigger and we are becoming a big competitor in the fuel industry," Mr Patel said.

"It will also be cheap fuel and products for customers and this is good for the [Molong] community, especially because we will begin to experience the same [service] from the city in the village.

Moving to the country from Western India eight years ago, Mr Patel was living and working in Coonabarabran until 2022, managing the Shell Coles Express fuel site before relocating to Molong.

Though he then made a temporary move to Orange after the small town was devastated by flood in November that same year - a record-making deluge that swallowed the service station.

"Yes, definitely we worry about flooding in the future, but we are hoping this might only be an issue every two or three years or so," Mr Patel said.

"We are not currently [building up higher] at the moment, but it is definitely something for us to think about."

With both an older and agriculture-based demographic there, Mr Patel hopes that Molong's new fuel station will offer a more convenient option for residents.

Trading hours will also be extended once its officially up and running, operating from 5am to 8pm every day of the week.

"We're trying to give the smaller towns the same thing as bigger cities and it is important because many of the people here either cannot travel very far or are farmers with [limited time for travel]," he said.

"My sister and my wife will be working here and we already have a few staff from Molong and Cumnock, but we are still planning to hire some more people as well."

The Pearl Energy site is located at 2 Gidley Street and is currently selling stock at a reduced rate.

Per litre of Diesel sells at 198.7 on March 28, while advertised petrol prices are 174.7 for Ethanol 10, 176.7 for Unleaded 91, and 189.7 for Premium 95 Unleaded.

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