Word About Town
End of an Era for BP North Road as BP Highway reopening moves closer.
For the past few months, one of the biggest "word about town" topics has been the long-awaited reopening of the former BP Highway service station on Tay Street.
whatsoninvers.nz has received numerous messages asking about the site, which formally closed over two years ago. However, over the past year, the site has seen on-and-off progress. Nine months ago, new fuel pumps were installed, and just a month ago, it looked close to reopening—only for work to be stripped back again as further building renovations began.
After several dead ends trying to get answers, whatsoninvers.nz spoke with Pierre, the operator of BP Cromwell and BP Mornington in Dunedin, on Thursday. While he was unable to provide an exact opening date, he said there had been a number of issues with the building that had delayed the project.
"The reopening is now weeks rather than months away," he said.
The Story So Far
Back in June 2023, whatsoninvers.nz was first to report that BP Highway would permanently close on 21 June 2023, with staff relocating to BP Ascot.
Almost two years later, in July 2025, we reported that the long-vacant Tay Street site had become a hive of activity. Tradespeople were on-site daily, sections of concrete had been removed, and brand-new fuel pumps had been installed.
When contacted at the time, a BP New Zealand spokesman said:"BP Ascot and BP North Road currently provide our bp fuel offer to our customers in Invercargill. The 163 Tay Street location previously operated as a bp dealer site until it closed in 2023. We continue to review opportunities across our nationwide network."
While BP stopped short of confirming a reopening, the work taking place on-site suggested the former service station was preparing for a new chapter.
BP North Road to Close
Another significant development came on Friday when BP North Road owner/operator Andrea Murrell confirmed the North Road site will close permanently at the end of July.
In a statement sent to whatsoninvers.nz, she said: "Just wanted to share the news that we are closing BP North Road at the end of this month.
The site won't be trading fuel anymore. The site will be used for expansion of the car dealers and workshop for better use of the land. The last day of business will be 31 July."
The announcement means Invercargill will lose one of its longest-serving BP service stations, while appearing set to regain another.
A Piece of Invercargill History
The North Road service station has a history stretching back well before it carried the BP name.
For many years it traded as Europa Deeslaw, one of Invercargill's best-known Europa service stations. Europa was a proudly New Zealand-owned company founded by the Todd family in Dunedin in the early 1930s. It built a nationwide network of service stations and became well known for offering competitively priced imported petrol.
In 1972, BP acquired a 60 percent controlling interest in Europa (NZ), creating what became New Zealand's largest marketer of petroleum products. Despite the acquisition, BP and Europa continued operating as separate brands for another 17 years, with Europa stations—including Europa Deeslaw—retaining their familiar branding until 1989, when the Europa name was retired and the remaining sites were rebranded with the BP shield.
Generations of Southlanders would have known the North Road site first as Europa Deeslaw, before it became BP North Road.
The Next Chapter
With BP North Road closing on 31 July and the former BP Highway site now reportedly only weeks away from reopening, it appears BP's Invercargill network is undergoing its biggest change in decades.
The closure of BP North Road will leave BP Ascot as the only operating BP site in the city until the Tay Street location reopens.
While an official opening date for BP Highway has yet to be announced, the latest information suggests motorists won't have to wait much longer before fuel pumps are once again operating at one of Invercargill's best-known service stations.
As always, whatsoninvers.nz will keep readers updated as more information becomes available.
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