L.A. Auto Show
Western Petroleum Marketers Association Convention
Western Petroleum Poker Tournament
CIOMA Day at the Capitol
Want to see the photos that didn't make the issue? Check out the Cutting Room Floor.
Pettit Sells Branded Business to Jackson Oil, Buys SC
Fuels NW Operations
Union Distributing, Brown Evans Merge to Form Senergy
Petroleum
Valero to Stay in California
California Sues BP and Arco
Website Launched to Help Retailers Oppose Swipe Fee
Settlement
LAKEWOOD, WA. — Pettit Oil Company, based here, made some major changes in its operations in the month of February. The company sold its branded dealer business to Jackson Oil Company of Merdian, ID., and, in a deal closed at approximately the same time, purchased the Pacific Northwest heating oil and commercial fuel and lubricants division of SC Fuels of Orange, CA.
The terms for both deals were not disclosed.
Under the terms of the branded business sale, Jackson Oil will now supply 104 branded dealers in the Pacific Northwest, operating under the Shell, Chevron, and 76 flags, that were formerly supplied by Pettit. With the addition of these stations, Jackson Oil will now supply over 700 locations in the Western states including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
"We have known the Pettit team for years, and are excited to expand our presence in the Pacific Northwest with this acquisition of quality assets, people, and accounts," stated John Jackson, CEO of Jackson Oil, announcing the deal.
The acquisition of the SC Fuels division, included the heating oil, commercial fueling, and lubricants distribution assets held within the PNEC Corporation as well as the PNEC distribution facilities in Bremerton and Everett, WA.
Steven Greinke, COO of SC Fuels, said that the decision to divest the company's Pacific Northwest assets "fits within our larger plan to strategically reposition our company. However, the decision is not taken lightly by our family. Since taking ownership of the company in 1994, PNEC has been a successful business for SC Fuels. This achievement would not have been possible without the strategic focus, hard work, and dedication of PNEC's outstanding management and employees."
SC Fuels recently announced an asset swap with Pilot Energy [see the February 2013 issue] that substantially increased SC Fuels' presence in the Southwest. The sale of its Pacific Northwest assets demonstrates the company's decision to focus on fuel marketing in that territory.
Adding the SC Fuels assets "significantly expands our company's footprint within Western Washington," said Pettit Oil President Jim Tener, "especially in the Puget Sound and Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas."
Tener continued, "These strategic transactions reposition Pettit Oil to expand and penetrate our market presence in commercial fuels, cardlocks, heating oil, and lubricants distribution in a broader geography, and provide a platform for continued growth of Pettit's products and services. We were pleased to work with Jackson on the sale of our branded dealer business, and know our customers will be in good hands with an industry veteran."
In operation for over 75 years, Pettit Oil is one of the largest privately held services companies in Washington State with distribution facilities in Everett, Lakewood, Hoquiam, Forks, Port Angeles, Port Townsend, and Bremerton, WA., as well as marketing the 76, CAM2, Chevron, Kendall, Phillips 66, Power Service, Shell, Summit, Tesoro, and Texaco brands, owns and operates cardlock fueling stations and is a part of the CFN, Pacific Pride, and Voyager fleet card networks.
PHOENIX, AZ. — Brown Evans Distributing and Union Distributing have announced plans to merge their two distributorships and form a new company, Senergy Petroleum LLC.
David Lueth and Warren Lueth of Union Distributing and Kathye Brown of Brown Evans Distributing will retain joint principal ownership of Senergy. The new company will be led by former Canyon State Oil President Chris Lindblom will lead the new company as President and CEO.
The company has announced that it will continue its statewide operations in Arizona and is looking to expand into "adjacent Southwest markets."
"The Senergy combination is a game-changing opportunity to take the highest possible standard of quality and service to yet the next level," said Union Distributing co-founding brothers David Lueth and Warren Lueth in an official statement. "Senergy will be well positioned at the forefront of petroleum distribution in Arizona."
"Senergy creates an exciting opportunity for our valued employees, and an exceptionally capable supplier partner for our loyal customers," said Brown Evans President Kathye Brown. "We are extremely pleased to see our histories of excellence and success move forward as Senergy."
"This merger is a perfect fit. The combined strengths, scale, and resources will create a premier distributorship poised for significant and sustainable growth," said Lindblom. "The pace of industry consolidation is accelerating and Senergy will be optimally positioned for the changing market dynamics and continually evolving customer needs of today and tomorrow."
BENICIA, CA. — After a series of media reports during the last several months saying Valero was looking to sell their California refineries, Valero CEO has gone on record to say the company currently plans to remain in the state.
Valero has reportedly been looking for buyers for its 132,000 barrel-per-day San Francisco-area refinery in Benicia and 78,000 bpd Los-Angeles-area refinery in Wilmington because of California's stringent cap-and-trade and emissions reductions regulations. Compliance with the law and upgrades to refineries in the state are expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Valero Chief Executive Bill Klesse had originally told stockholders in 2011 that the company was "looking at options" for the two refineries, including considering a sale of the properties. The Wall Street Journal reported in October that Valero had hired Citigroup to find buyers for the plants.
In a meeting with the press in March, however, Klesse said Valero has no plans to sell the refineries at this time.
"It didn't seem like the right thing for our shareholders," Klesse said, because "there aren't a lot of buyers" and "there's not a lot of value."
Klesse said instead of selling the facilities, Valero is applying for permits to bring rail into Wilmington and Benicia, allowing them to accept crude oil shipments by rail. The company is looking to add crude-by-rail shipments of 30,000 to 50,000 bpd, taking advantage of new sources of crude available in North America.
LOS ANGELES, CA. — The state of California has filed a civil lawsuit against BP West Coast Prodcts, BP Products North America, and Atlantic Richfield Co., accusing the major oil company of failing to properly inspect and maintain USTs at over 780 gasoline stations.
"Safe storage of gasoline is not only common sense, it is essential to protecting the integrity of California's groundwater resources," said California Attorney General Kamala Harris, announcing the lawsuit which was filed in February. "California's hazardous waste laws safeguard public health and this lawsuit ensures proper maintenance of the tanks that store fuel beneath California's communities."
The lawsuit accuses BP and Arco of improperly monitoring, inspecting, and maintaining their USTs since October of 2006 as well as tampering with or disabling leak detection equipment.
The lawsuit also alleges that BP and Arco improperly handled and disposed of hazardous waste and other materials associated with their USTs.
Responding to the lawsuit, BP spokesman Scott Dean said, "BP, like the companies before it, has been in negotiations with the Attorney General's office in an attempt to settle a number of alleged violations relating to underground storage tanks and hazardous waste management at retail sites.
"The majority of these alleged incidents are procedural violations concerning documentation," Dean continued. "A small number of the alleged violations relate to the monitoring of tanks. None of the alleged violations posed any harm to human health or the environment."
ALEXANDRIA, VA. — The National Association of Convenience Stores has launched a new website "to help retailers from all channels express their opposition to the proposed credit card swipe fee settlement."
Approximately 8 million retailers across the United States received notices about the proposed credit card swipe fee settlement and they have until May 28, 2013, to opt-out or object to it. If a retailer doesn't meet that deadline, the court will assume that retailer accepts the proposed settlement in full.
All retailers who accepted Visa and/or MasterCard at any time between January 1, 2004, and November 27, 2012, are affected by the proposal.
The new website, www.merchantsobject.com, is designed to give retailers an easier way to opt-out or object to the credit card settlement and submit their forms electronically to the court. NACS is encouraging each individual retailer to research the issue and decide for themselves how to respond to the proposed settlement.
In addition to providing retailers with the tools to both opt out and object to the proposal, the site also allows retailers to share their opposition via social media, including Twitter and Facebook.
As an organization, NACS is both opting out and objecting to the proposed settlement "because it fails to modify the price-fixing and other anti-competitive activities of Visa, MasterCard and their card-issuing banks in order to bring competition to this broken market. While retailers might get a couple of months' worth of their fees back through the settlement, their swipe fees would likely increase by more than the dollars they would receive before they even receive a single penny from the settlement fund. Worse, the proposed settlement requires class members to release Visa and MasterCard from liability, forever, for any anticompetitive rules currently in place (including the interchange or swipe fee rules) and/or any 'substantially similar rules' instituted at any time in the future."
Among the organizations who are opposing the settlement, in addition to NACS, are the Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA), the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), the National Grocers Association (NGA) and the National Restaurant Association (NRA).
Retailer opposition to the proposed settlement will be taken into account when U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit holds a hearing in September.
Originally published in the April 2013 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2013 by KAL Publications Inc.
Serving the 13 Western States, the World's Largest Gasoline, Oil, Fuel, TBA and Automotive Service Market
