Australian billionaire Adrian Portelli is set to open the first location for his own chain of service stations before the end of this month.

Portelli, 36, announced his petrol pump venture as part of an extension to LMCT+, his subscription-based rewards club, in December 2025.

The price of fuel in Australia doubled for drivers in the weeks after conflict broke out in the Middle East and Iran closed shipping passage the Strait of Hormuz, with some service stations even running dry.  

But months before the ongoing fuel crisis began, Portelli said that his service stations would offer 'discount' fuel prices, with the first location to open in Melbourne. 

'The big players in the petrol game didn't want to give you guys discounted fuel, so Adrian's gone out and bought his own to give members a whopping fuel discount,' LMCT+ said in its December announcement.

'Get ready because next year you're going to start seeing LMCT+ petrol stations roll out across Australia.'

In an update last week, Portelli announced the first of the petrol stations would open within a fortnight. The project is a conversion from a Shell site on the corner of Gower Street and Plenty Road in Preston, about 10km north of Melbourne's CBD.

'The final two-week countdown!' he wrote online. 'It genuinely is surreal seeing this come to life and I got emotional seeing that LMCT+ logo hanging loud and proud!'

For those struggling to find E85, which has been in short supply due to the conflict in the Middle East, Portelli added: 'There will be E85 on site in some way shape or form.' 

Hundreds of Aussies applauded Portelli's decision to open a service station - with some joking his ability to find fuel in a shortage was better than that of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

'Bro can you replace Albo,' one wrote.

'This is awesome!' another said.

But others shared their doubts about LMCT+'s expansion, especially given that the brand is most famous for its lotteries.

Those competitions appear to be part of the new service stations with pictures showing an on-site 'Rewards Hub'.

'Can we not bring gambling into every aspect of our lives? I'm happy for you to expand, but exposing our kids to 'a chance to win' at every opportunity is a real bad idea,' one wrote.

Photos from Portelli's latest update showed the bones of the service station were up with LMCT+ logos already plastered on the bowsers.

A waitlist for LMCT+ fuel is available on the company's website but it's unclear when the first service station will officially open. 

Portelli, from Melbourne, has an estimated worth of $1.4billion.

He made the majority of wealth through his LMCT+ business, which exploited a loophole in gambling regulation, along with property investment and a super car collection.