Petra is a storage and handling facility for energy products on behalf of third parties. It plays a key role in the distribution chain by ensuring the continuous supply of fuels and combustibles — a service of public utility.

Our depot is located in the Port of Ravenna and it serves as a strategic hub for the management and distribution of fuels across a wide range of sectors. Products arrive either by tanker ship or tanker truck and they are temporarily stored in dedicated tanks before being dispatched to end customers, such as fuel distributors or industrial facilities.

The plant is designed to meet strict standards, ensuring maximum safety, operational efficiency, and environmental compliance. Over the past decade, these aspects have become increasingly important, driving targeted investments in modern infrastructure and technologies aimed at reducing risk, minimizing emissions, and improving wastewater management.

In such a structured and highly regulated environment, my role involves overseeing all operational activities in close collaboration with my team, striking a careful balance between daily operations, regulatory compliance, and broader strategic goals. It’s not just about supervising depot activities — it’s about ensuring that everything runs safely, efficiently, and in line with required quality and environmental standards.

Each day presents new challenges, from planning product movements to streamlining processes. Part of our work also involves monitoring market trends, identifying areas for improvement, and proposing investments that can enhance the plant’s efficiency or responsiveness to emerging needs. In a sector where innovation is rapidly transforming operations, we’re committed to embracing digital solutions—whether for real-time activity monitoring or for forecasting loading and logistics requirements.

Managing a depot dedicated to the storage and handling of energy products comes with significant challenges across multiple fronts — from safety and regulatory compliance to commercial competitiveness.

This is a sector where the margin for error must be minimal, if not nonexistent, while expectations around efficiency, safety, and compliance are extremely high.

From a commercial perspective, one of the greatest challenges is staying competitive in a highly dynamic market shaped by a range of geopolitical, economic, and environmental factors. The price volatility of energy products demands a high degree of operational flexibility.

Depots must be able to deliver fast, reliable, and cost-effective logistics services. Customers —whether distributors, commercial depots, or energy companies—are increasingly seeking tailored solutions and long-term partnerships that offer a competitive edge. In this context, investing in infrastructure and technologies that enhance handling efficiency, such as automation and real-time tracking systems, is essential—without ever compromising on safety.

Speed of loading and unloading operations, as well as the ability to store a variety of fuel types based on shifting demand, can be decisive factors in a customer’s choice of logistics partner.

On the regulatory side, the biggest challenge lies in maintaining full compliance within an increasingly stringent and constantly evolving legislative framework. Overcoming these obstacles requires a strategic mindset—one that blends innovation, operational efficiency, and the agility to quickly adapt to changes in the industry.

At the Petra facility, software has taken on an increasingly central role, becoming essential for improving operational efficiency, ensuring safety, and maintaining regulatory compliance. In recent years, the adoption of digital solutions has grown significantly, transforming the depot into a highly technological and interconnected environment.

The solution implemented by Loginet involves an integrated platform that manages all field automation related to loading and unloading operations—both by land and by sea.

The software coordinates vehicle movements within the depot, optimising loading schedules and minimising delays. It interfaces with infrastructure for the automatic and fiscal measurement of quantities to be loaded, safety systems that verify correct vehicle positioning, and sensors that monitor loading and unloading volumes in real time.

The system offers a comprehensive view of all flows, enabling real-time monitoring and control of energy product movements. Operators benefit from an intuitive interface that provides a full overview of ongoing operations, flags any anomalies, and allows for rapid intervention when needed.

Integration with customer and supplier platforms ensures greater transparency across the entire logistics chain, while also reducing the risk of errors or delays.

From an operational standpoint, the adoption of this solution has led to a significant reduction in the time required to manage daily activities—streamlining tanker loading operations and optimising the use of terminal resources and infrastructure.

The impact on safety has also been substantial. By allowing for proactive risk identification and mitigation, the system helps prevent accidents that could pose a threat to both personnel and the environment. Real-time monitoring of critical parameters has enhanced the team’s ability to respond quickly to anomalies, significantly lowering the risk of serious incidents.

In terms of regulatory compliance, the software has simplified adherence to legal requirements through automatic, centralised data collection. This has eased the administrative workload while ensuring complete traceability of all operations—a key factor in an industry subject to frequent and stringent inspections by regulatory authorities.