Westfalen AG

Westfalen AG is a German family-owned energy and industrial-gases company headquartered in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia. The business began in 1923 as Sauerstoffwerke AG, producing oxygen for oxyfuel welding and cutting. It subsequently added fuels and lubricants, liquefied petroleum gas, industrial and specialty gases, medical gases, energy supply and service-station operations. The company’s principal public-facing fuel brand is Westfalen, while Westfalengas is its LPG brand and Westfalen Service Card is its fleet-fueling and payment product. Wilhelm Albert founded the company on 11 October 1923. An air-separation plant enabled the business to produce oxygen internally from 1924, and in 1925 the company created a fuels and lubricants division called Westfalen Kraft- und Schmierstoffe. Its first service station opened in Münster in 1927, and the network expanded to approximately 100 stations by 1938. Wartime damage severely affected the oxygen plant and gasometer in 1943, while the service-station division was placed under external management during the war. After 1945, members of the Albert family rebuilt and managed the business. The company entered LPG in 1954, filling cylinders at its Münster-Gremmendorf site. This activity developed into Westfalengas, which serves households, agriculture, commercial users and industrial customers for heating, process energy and vehicle or forklift propulsion. Westfalen also supplies LPG through a broad network of branded and partner fuel stations. Its station business is concentrated particularly in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony and combines conventional fuels with LPG, natural gas, biofuel, electric charging, vehicle washing, maintenance, convenience and food-service offerings. The Westfalen Service Card extends the network beyond Westfalen-branded locations through acceptance agreements with several major station networks. The gases business has expanded from basic oxygen production into a European portfolio of more than 300 standardized gases and mixtures. Products include oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, helium, acetylene, refrigerants, food gases, laboratory and calibration gases, welding gases, laser gases, and medical and pharmaceutical gases. Production, filling and specialist facilities are located in Germany and France, with subsidiaries and commercial operations elsewhere in Europe. The company also supplies oxygen and related services to patients through its respiratory homecare activities. Westfalen broadened its energy offer to natural gas and electricity in 2012 and has added solar-thermal products, electric mobility infrastructure and, more recently, heat-pump services through investments and acquisitions. In 2024 it added bio-LPG made from renewable feedstocks to its range. The group operates through subsidiaries and associates across several European countries. Its identity is built around a white leaping horse on a red field, a regional reference to Westphalia that was modernized in 2001. Westfalen remains active as a diversified energy, mobility and gases group rather than a listed oil major.

Westfalen AG was founded in Münster on 11 October 1923 by Wilhelm Albert under the name Sauerstoffwerke AG. Its original business was oxygen production for welding and cutting. A company-owned air-separation plant began operating in 1924, giving the business an industrial-gases foundation that remains central to the group. In 1925 the company established Westfalen Kraft- und Schmierstoffe for fuels and lubricants. Its first service station opened in Münster in 1927, and the network grew to roughly 100 sites before the Second World War. During the 1930s the company expanded its industrial premises on Industrieweg, adding air-separation, storage and administrative infrastructure. Wartime administration of the service-station division was separated from the company, and an air raid in October 1943 badly damaged the oxygen plant and gasometer. Albert died later that year; his son Herbert Albert and son-in-law Josef Fritsch assumed responsibility. Postwar reconstruction restored the air-separation operation. Herbert Albert managed the commercial side and chaired the company, while August-Wilhelm Albert led technical matters. In 1954, the company added liquefied petroleum gas. LPG was filled into cylinders at Münster-Gremmendorf, where acetylene production and a new liquid-gas filling plant were added in 1956. A tank depot and oil port on the Dortmund–Ems Canal at Münster-Gelmer were completed in 1966. The 1973–74 oil crisis sharply reduced mineral-oil activity, but the family continued to direct the company. After Herbert Albert’s death in 1974 and August-Wilhelm Albert’s death in 1977, Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert became the leading chairman. The legal name was shortened to Westfalen AG in 1988. In 1989 the company made its largest acquisition to that point, taking over KDE Kälte Zubehör Handelsgesellschaft, Wannenwetsch GmbH and Ernst Rückwarth GmbH & Co. KG. International expansion followed with subsidiaries in the Netherlands in 1989, Poland in 1995, Belgium and France in 1999, Switzerland in 2001, Austria in 2005 and the Czech Republic in 2010. A hydrogen-production facility entered operation in 2000, while an air-separation plant in Le Creusot, France, became the group’s largest foreign investment at the time in 2010. During the 2010s Westfalen broadened its energy and mobility offering. It introduced E10 gasoline, began supplying natural gas and electricity, developed LPG mobility projects, launched the Conneo cylinder-exchange system, opened a truck carwash and operated a hydrogen station in Münster. It also expanded the Westfalen Service Card through network agreements and entered medical and rehabilitation equipment through its investment in Medica Technik. The Westfalen Tower opened in Münster in 2014. In 2018, after more than four decades as chief executive, Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert moved to the supervisory board and Thomas Perkmann became CEO. More recently, the group has combined conventional energy with transition technologies and healthcare. It consolidated its medical oxygen and patient-support activities into Respiratory Homecare in 2023, invested in heat-pump services through NGC.Tec, and added renewable bio-LPG in 2024. The group’s present activities span gases, LPG and other energy supplies, service stations, fleet cards, medical gases, homecare and energy-transition solutions across Germany and neighboring European markets.

1. 2024Bio-LPG introduced

   Renewable-source LPG became part of the company’s energy product range.

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2. 2023Respiratory Homecare division formed

   Westfalen combined its German and Dutch medical businesses focused on oxygen and home respiratory care.

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3. 2018Leadership transferred to Thomas Perkmann

   Thomas Perkmann became CEO after Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert moved to the supervisory board.

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4. 2012Natural gas and electricity added

   Westfalen began supplying both commodities across Germany.

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5. 2000Hydrogen production begins

   A hydrogen-production plant entered operation in cooperation with SRS Schmierstoffraffinerie Salzbergen.

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6. 1988Company renamed Westfalen AG

   The word Sauerstoffwerk was removed from the registered company name.

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7. 1954Westfalengas LPG business begins

   Westfalen entered LPG filling and distribution, establishing a major long-term business line.

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8. 1927First Westfalen service station opens

   The first station began trading on Albersloher Weg in Münster.

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9. 1925Fuel and lubricant division established

   Westfalen Kraft- und Schmierstoffe was created, marking the company’s entry into fuels.

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10. 1923Sauerstoffwerke AG founded

    Wilhelm Albert founded the oxygen-production company in Münster on 11 October.

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A privately held, regionally rooted but internationally operating energy and gases group combining fuel retail, LPG supply, industrial and medical gases, fleet mobility services and lower-carbon energy products.

• WestfalengasLiquefied petroleum gas1954

  Westfalengas is Westfalen’s LPG brand for household heating, commercial and agricultural energy, industrial processes and vehicle or forklift propulsion. It is distributed in cylinders, tanks and through service-station channels. The product is based primarily on propane and propene, with seasonal blending adjustments for operating conditions.

• Westfalen Service CardFuel card

  The Westfalen Service Card is a fleet-fueling and payment card for business drivers. It can be used at Westfalen stations and participating partner networks, giving fleet operators broader geographic coverage than the company’s own branded estate. The related service proposition includes fuel management and access to station services.

• Industrial and specialty gasesIndustrial gases1923

  Westfalen supplies more than 300 standardized gases and mixtures, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, helium, refrigerants, welding and shielding gases, laser gases, laboratory gases, food gases and calibration mixtures. Its specialty-gas center prepares customer-specific analytical mixtures and supports testing and calibration applications.

• Medical and pharmaceutical gasesMedical gases

  The medical-gas portfolio includes gaseous and liquid oxygen, inhalation products and other gases for hospitals, pharmaceutical uses and patient care. Westfalen also provides respiratory homecare services, supplying oxygen and related support outside institutional healthcare settings.

• Westfalen service stationsFuel retail1927

  Westfalen operates approximately 260 branded stations in Germany, concentrated in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. Sites may combine gasoline, diesel, LPG, natural gas, E85, electric charging, lubricants, carwashes, vehicle and tire services, convenience retail and bistros.

• ConneoLPG cylinder system2014

  Conneo is a click-on LPG-cylinder exchange concept introduced to simplify cylinder replacement. Its connection and exchange design was intended to reduce the time required for customers to change cylinders.

• Bio-LPGRenewable energy2024

  Bio-LPG from renewable sources was added to Westfalen’s range in 2024. It extends the company’s LPG offer toward lower-carbon fuel alternatives while retaining LPG’s storage and distribution characteristics.

• 2017Chopstix at a Westfalen station

  Germany

  A Chopstix Noodle Bar opened at a Westfalen service station in Münster, illustrating the company’s effort to broaden station destinations beyond fuel retail.

  Outcome. It became the first German Chopstix restaurant at a Westfalen service station.

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• 2012S1000plus LPG driving project

  Germany

  Westfalen supported an S1000plus project in which a car completed a journey of more than 1,365.5 kilometres on LPG without refueling.

  Outcome. The journey demonstrated the range potential of LPG-powered road travel.

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• 2024Add renewable bio-LPGProduct launch

  Customers and energy providers were seeking lower-carbon alternatives to conventional fossil LPG.

  What changed. Westfalen expanded its product range to include bio-LPG from renewable sources.

  Aftermath. The company’s LPG portfolio gained a renewable option alongside conventional Westfalengas.

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• 2023Invest in NGC.TecM&A

  Heat pumps and building-energy technology were becoming increasingly important to the energy-transition market.

  What changed. Westfalen acquired a majority stake in NGC.Tec GmbH, which installs heat pumps among other systems.

  Aftermath. The group gained a stronger position in distributed heating and energy-transition services.

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• 2015Acquire 80 percent of Medica TechnikM&A

  Medica Technik specialized in home-care, medical and rehabilitation equipment.

  What changed. Westfalen acquired an 80 percent stake in the Brachbach-based company.

  Aftermath. The transaction expanded Westfalen’s healthcare-related business activities.

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• 2012Enter gas and electricity supplyStrategy

  Westfalen sought to broaden its energy business beyond petroleum products and LPG.

  What changed. The company began supplying natural gas and electricity across Germany.

  Aftermath. Westfalen’s energy portfolio expanded into retail utility supply.

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• 2011Introduce Super E10Product launch

  German fuel retailers were responding to the market introduction of gasoline containing up to 10 percent bioethanol.

  What changed. Westfalen added Super E10 at approximately 260 German stations.

  Aftermath. E10 became part of the company’s conventional-fuel and alternative-energy offering.

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• 1988Adopt the Westfalen AG nameStrategy

  The historic Sauerstoffwerke name no longer represented the breadth of the company’s fuels, LPG and gases activities.

  What changed. The company removed Sauerstoffwerk from its registered name and became Westfalen AG.

  Aftermath. The shorter name became the corporate identity used across the expanding group.

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• 2024Westfalen adds renewable bio-LPG

  The energy portfolio was expanded with bio-LPG from renewable sources.

  Product launch
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• 2023Westfalen acquires majority stake in NGC.Tec

  The group expanded into heat-pump installation and related energy solutions through a majority investment in NGC.Tec GmbH.

  M&A
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• 2023Westfalen reorganizes respiratory homecare activities

  Westfalen Medical GmbH and Westfalen Medical BV were combined into a Respiratory Homecare division focused on oxygen and patient services.

  Other
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• 2018Westfalen appoints Thomas Perkmann as CEO

  After Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert moved to the supervisory board, Thomas Perkmann became chief executive on 1 September 2018.

  Leadership change
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• 2016Westfalen and AVIA sign fleet-card acceptance agreement

  The agreement expanded the locations at which Westfalen fleet-card customers could refuel.

  Other
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• 2016Westfalen opens Münster hydrogen station

  Westfalen began operating Münster’s first hydrogen fueling station.

  Product launch
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• 2015Westfalen acquires majority stake in Medica Technik

  Westfalen acquired 80 percent of Medica Technik GmbH, a supplier of home-care, medical and rehabilitation equipment.

  M&A
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• 2014Westfalen launches the Conneo click-on gas cylinder

  The company introduced a cylinder-exchange system designed to make LPG-cylinder replacement faster.

  Product launch
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• 2012Westfalen begins supplying natural gas and electricity

  Westfalen expanded from liquid fuels and LPG into nationwide natural-gas and electricity supply.

  Product launch
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• 2011Westfalen introduces Super E10 at German service stations

  The company introduced E10 gasoline at approximately 260 Westfalen stations.

  Product launch
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1. Westfalen AG
2. Westfalen official website