ConocoPhillips To Sell Its Company-Ops To Pacific Convenience & Fuel
Kinder Morgan Pays $240,000 Settlement For Employee's Dumping
Shoplifters Shoot At, Drag 7-Eleven Clerk

CONOCOPHILLIPS TO SELL ITS COMPANY-OPS TO PACIFIC CONVENIENCE & FUEL

HOUSTON, TX. — ConocoPhillips has announced that it will sell all of its remaining company-owned gasoline stations to PetroSun West LLC of Seattle, WA. Approximately 600 service stations are included in the deal which is valued at approximately $800 million.

The former ConocoPhillips stations, which represent over one billion gallons of fuel sales annually, will be owned by a new affiliate of PetroSun West, called Pacific Convenience & Fuel LLC.

ConocoPhillips had been selling off its stations actively since 2006; this deal will remove the oil company from retailing fuel to the public in the United States.

"This transaction is designed to strengthen our branded wholesale business model and grow market share," said Clayton Reasor, president of U.S. marketing for ConocoPhillips, in a statement. "We have worked with PetroSun before and believe they will continue to enhance our brands and provide excellent service to our retail customers."

The stations are located in 10 states with majority of the service stations located along the West Coast in urban areas of California, Oregon and Washington. Other major West Coast markets where the stations are located include Denver, CO., Salt Lake City, UT., and Albuquerque, NM. All of the stations are operating under the 76, Phillips 66, or Conoco brands.

The stations will maintain their brands after the close of the sale and ConocoPhillips will supply fuel to the sites. In addition, Tower Energy Group will also supply fuel to the company's newly acquired locations in California.

ConocoPhillips has "really premium assets, and it was the only package available in our sector that you can buy in bulk to include premium corners in major metropolitan areas," said Sam Hirbod, serving as chairman and CEO of PetroSun and Pacific Convenience & Fuel LLC. "We analyzed what was important to ConocoPhillips other than the price, and we put together a robust, well thought out and granular bid, and was able to beat everyone else out."

He continued, "The oil companies are leaving retail. We believe there will be more opportunities and a more fluid marketplace, and we are in position to control the best corners and have the best position to compete in the marketplace."

Prior to the purchase, PetroSun operated 120 service stations on the West Coast. With the close of the deal, PetroSun will become one of the largest independent petroleum and convenience store operators in the country.

Hirbod said one of the company's first priorities will be to upgrade the convenience stores at their newly acquired stations. Options being considered range from adding new prepared food options to operations such as dry cleaning and financial services.

The sale is expected to close by the end of the year.

KINDER MORGAN PAYS $240,000 SETTLEMENT FOR EMPLOYEE'S DUMPING

HOUSTON, TX. — Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals Inc., has completed a settlement and has agreed to pay $240,000 after an employee improperly disposed of potash at the company's terminal in Portland, OR.

Potash (potassium chloride), sometimes used as a salt substitute and also as a fertilizer, regularly arrives at the Kinder Morgan terminal in Portland, OR., via rail cars to be loaded onto bulk cargo vessels for shipment overseas.

According to the settlement with the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Oregon and the U.S. Department of Justice, in August 2003 a former Kinder Morgan employee made arrangements to have a customer's shipment of potash, which had become wet and no longer met specifications for commercial use, improperly disposed of in the Pacific Ocean without a permit.

As part of the settlement, the government and the company acknowledged in a joint factual statement filed with the court that: no harm was done to the environment; the former employee's actions constituted a violation of company policy; the company did not benefit financially from the incident, and no Kinder Morgan personnel outside of the terminal either approved or had any knowledge of the former employee's arrangements.

The company entered a plea to a criminal violation of the Ocean Dumping Act and agreed to pay a $156,000 fine and make an $84,000 community service payment to the Oregon Governor's Fund for the Environment.

Kinder Morgan officials initially announced "the matter was under investigation in 2004, fully cooperated with the government's investigation and promptly adopted measures at the terminal to avoid future incidents of this nature."

SHOPLIFTERS SHOOT AT, DRAG 7-ELEVEN CLERK

TEMPE, AZ. — Two men were arrested here after shooting at a clerk and dragging him behind their vehicle at a 7-Eleven c-store located on McClintock Drive here.

According to local police reports, three men entered the store and stole two 20-packs of beer. When a store clerk approached the vehicle leaving the scene of the crime, Stephen Little, 19, began to drive away, dragging the clerk several yards and injuring him. A third man fired a shot toward the clerk as he was being dragged along by the vehicle, "narrowly missing the left side of the clerk's face."

Little and William Reed, 18, were arrested shortly thereafter on suspicion of shoplifting. Little was also charged with endangerment. The third man in the car is still being sought after by police.

The 7-Eleven store clerk was treated for minor injuries at the scene of the crime.

Originally published in the October 2008 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2008 by KAL Publications Inc.