Fiedler Group 50th Anniversary Luncheon
Commercial Fueling Network Membership Meeting
Alliance Petroleum Annual Meeting
Northern California Petroleum Industry Golf and Tennis
Want to see the photos that didn't make the issue? Check out the Cutting Room Floor.
Portland Mandates 5% Biodiesel Blend
Hawaii To Allow Premium Fuels With No Ethanol
Town Pump Acquires 4B Montana Locations
Comdata, Truckstops Sued Over Fleet Card Use
7-Eleven Plans To Add 1,000 New U.S. Convenience Stores
Pearson Fuels Wins CARB E85 Grant, Seeks To Convert California Stations
PORTLAND, OR. — A new mandate has gone into effect here requiring all diesel fuel sold at the retail level in Portland to contain a minimum of 5 percent biodiesel, effective as of July 1.
The fuel mandate applies to diesel sold inside the city of Portland for on-road vehicle use. The requirement does not apply to diesel sold in Portland that is then transported outside of the city.
Supply of biodiesel has been a concern with jobbers in the Portland area. Salem-based SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel, which operates the only commercial biodiesel in Oregon, produces approximately 1 million gallons of biodiesel annually, primarily from waste cooking oil. In addition, Portland Biodiesel is currently developing a biodiesel production facility in north Portland that also will use waste cooking oil as feedstock. The Portland Biodiesel plant is expected to open with a capacity of 300,000 gallons annually and expand to 1 million gallons within a year.
Jobber Carson Oil reports that they have installed a high-speed injection blending rack designed to move biodiesel at a rate of over 500 gallons per minute in order to handle the demands of the biodiesel mandate.
The current biodiesel requirement is the first of several fuel specifications mandated by Portland officials. Effective as of November 1, all gasoline sold at retail in the city must contain at least 10% ethanol. By 2010, all diesel fuel marketed in Portland must have at least 10% biodiesel.
HONOLULU, HI. — The Hawaii Legislature has passed a bill that would require oil refiners, retail gasoline stations and distributors to offer premium gasoline for sale to consumers that does not contain ethanol.
The new regulation comes on the heels of a law passed last year in the state of Hawaii that required at least 85% of the gasoline sold in the state to contain at least 10% ethanol.
The new law, HB791, was enacted because of concerns from boat, power equipment, and small aircraft owners that ethanol-blended fuel would cause damage and malfunction to their engines. The new law would require that "premium gasoline produced, imported, or sold in the State for use in motor vehicles shall contain no ethanol," meet ASTM standards, and have an octane rating of 91 or greater.
Mid-grade and regular gasoline sold in Hawaii will continue to be required to have up to 10% of ethanol by volume.
Gasoline distributors will be required to send the state a series of reports including the price and amount of ethanol available, the amount of ethanol blended fuel sold by the distributor, and the amount of non-ethanol blended fuel sold.
The new law also authorizes fines of "not less than $2 per gallon for nonconforming fuel" sold, up to a maximum of $10,000 per ethanol blending infraction.
The new Hawaiian law becomes effective as of July 1, 2011.
GREAT FALLS, MT. — Town Pump, the jobbership based here which has diversified its service station operations into convenience stores, casinos and motels across the state, has continued its expansion with the purchase of six 4B's restaurant locations. The price of the deal was not disclosed.
The locations include three 4B's restaurants in Missoula and one each in Great Falls, Hamilton and Polson, Montana. The Great Falls location is currently operating as the Prime Time Casino.
According to Town Pump spokeswoman Maureen Kenneally, the company has not decided if they will keep the properties operating as restaurants or if they will repurpose the sites to other uses.
"At this time, we are still considering all the possible options for the property," stated Kenneally. "Currently, we are talking to various restaurant franchises and operators."
KENNER, LA. — In an action that may have implications for petroleum marketers across the country, an independent truck stop owner, Riverbend Truck Stops and Palace Casinos, based in Louisiana, has filed a lawsuit against a fleet card company and truck stop chains utilizing their technology.
Riverbend is suing Pilot Travel Centers, TravelCenters of America, Comdata, and Comdata's parent company, Ceridian. The suit alleges that the fleet card practices of the companies are anti-competitive and "favor chains over independents."
The lawsuit "seeks to recover damages and injunctive relief on behalf of plaintiffs and a nationwide class of independent truck stops, which have been forced to pay artificially-high prices for trucker fleet card processing services."
The suit was filed June 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville and seeks a class-action classification on behalf of Riverbend "and all others similarly situated."
A Western truck stop, Marchbanks Truck Service, which operates Bear Mountain Travel Stop in Bakersfield, CA., is already involved in a similar lawsuit filed last March in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. If the Louisiana suit is successful, the two suits may be combined into one class-action lawsuit and involve more truck stop operators across the country.
Riverbend operates six truck stops in the state of Louisiana.
TOKYO, JAPAN — Seven & I Holdings, the parent company of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores, based here, has announced that they plan to open 1,000 new convenience stores in the United States within the next four years.
Seven & I officials said they plan to spend approximately 300 billion yen — $2.4 billion — to build the new c-stores as well as upgrade its existing stores inside the United States.
Part of the company's focus will be to increase gasoline sales at its c-store locations by at least 15% as well as increase overall sales inside the stores.
Seven and I owns approximately 6,000 7-Eleven branded c-stores operating in the United States.
SAN DIEGO, CA. — Pearson Fuels, which operates an alternative fuel station in San Diego, CA., has become a major recipient of grant funding from the California Air Resources Board to expand the state's E85 infrastructure.
Under the grant, CARB has agreed to financially support the company's addition of E85 to service stations throughout the state of California, according to Mike Lewis, general manager of Pearson Fuels. "Pearson was selected by ARB to implement this plan because of the uniqueness of our business model and our proven ability to work with ARB and the myriad other public agencies that are involved in the permitting and construction of an E-85 station in California," he explained.
Pearson Fuels' model for installing the E-85 system involves contracting with an existing gasoline station owner to bring to their site a new E-85 tank and dispenser at a cost of approximately $100,000 to $200,000 per location. Pearson will utilize outside contractors to install the equipment and the service station owner will have the E-85 equipment deeded to them at the end of construction.
In exchange for Pearson installing the dispenser and tanks at the existing station, the owner would be required to sign a fuel supply contract with Pearson for delivery of the E-85 fuel to the site.
Lewis noted that as his company was "the first applicant in California to apply for and receive a Research and Development permit from ARB to dispense E-85, Pearson Fuels has more experience than any other organization in constructing an E-85 fueling station and dispensing that fuel to the public in California," adding that "It has been extremely difficult to get an ethanol station built in California as evidenced by the fact that the state of Minnesota has over 300 public ethanol stations. California has only one, Pearson Fuels."
He also added that the permitting process has made it "almost impossible for a station owner to install E-85" without outside assistance. "Pearson brings to the table a long-standing relationship with ARB as well as their financial backing to help bring E-85 to the general public."
The operational Pearson alternative fuel station is located at 4067 El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego.
Originally published in the August 2007 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2007 by KAL Publications Inc.
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