Challenge is a chain of independently owned

petrol stations A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gaso ...

around

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The chain is made up of 78 petrol stations, including five in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Most of the petrol stations are based in small towns and stock petrol and diesel; many have amenities and small convenience stores.

History

The first Challenge petrol station was opened by

Fletcher Challenge Fletcher Challenge was a multinational corporation from New Zealand. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Fletcher Holdings, Challenge Corporation and Tasman Pulp and Paper. It had holdings in construction, forestry, building, and energy, init ...

in April 1998. The lower prices of Challenge and Gull New Zealand contributed to a price war in the New Zealand fuel retailing industry. The Challenge brand was purchased by Caltex New Zealand from Rubicon in 2001. It became part of the Rubicon business during the split of Fletcher Challenge in 2001, and was sold to Caltex New Zealand later that year.

Z Energy Z Energy is a New Zealand fuel distributor with branded service stations. It comprises some of the former assets of Shell New Zealand and Chevron New Zealand. Shell left the New Zealand fuel distribution business in April 2010, selling its ope ...

purchased Caltex New Zealand in 2016, bringing the Challenge service station brand ownership into Z. While the Challenge brand is owned by Z Energy, Challenge stores are all independently owned and operated. Store owners are all Shareholders of Dealer Co (NZ) Ltd, and the stores trade under the Challenge brand.

References

{{Authority control Oil and gas companies of New Zealand