Western Refining Merges with Northern Tier Energy
Rebel Sells Retail Stations to Anabi Oil
PW Environmental Pleads No Contest To Grand Theft
Interstate Oil Acquires Kemgas Rocklin Operations
Flyers Acquires Goodspeed Distributing

WESTERN REFINING MERGES WITH NORTHERN TIER ENERGY

TEMPE, AZ. — Northern Tier Energy (NTI), based here, has agreed to a merger with Western Refining Inc.

Under the teams of the deal, announced in December, Western Refining will acquire all of NTI's outstanding common stock, which will no longer be publicly traded. NTI's assets, including its refineries, retail, and logistics operations and more than 165 convenience stores — primarily located in Minnesota and Wisconsin and marketing under the SuperAmerica brand — will become a subsidiary of Western Refining.

Paul Foster will remain Executive Chairman and Jeff Stevens will remain chief executive officer of Western Refining following the close of the deal. Dave Lamp, who had been serving as president and CEO of NTI, will be named president and chief operating officer of Western Refining.

"The merger of Western and NTI will result in the combined entity owning three of the most profitable independent refineries on a gross margin per barrel basis," stated Jeff Stevens, the president and CEO of WNR, "with direct pipeline access to advantaged crude oil combined with an integrated retail and wholesale distribution network."

He added, "With a simplified corporate structure and diverse geographic base, Western will have greater access to capital and be positioned to profitably grow the company. We are excited to move forward with this transaction."

The closing of the merger is subject to traditional government approvals.

REBEL SELLS RETAIL STATIONS TO ANABI OIL

LAS VEGAS, NV. — Rebel Oil Company, based here, has sold its retail assets to Anabi Oil Corporation, based in Upland, CA. The purchase price for the sale was not disclosed.

Included in the deal were Rebel Oil's 50-plus gasoline stations and convenience stores in southern Nevada, primarily in Las Vegas as well as Beatty, Boulder City, Henderson, Pahrump, Searchlight and Tonopah.

Rebel Oil has been a major part of the Las Vegas independent fuel marketplace for the past 50 years, marketing primarily under its own Rebel branded service stations and convenience stores.

Anabi Oil has announced that it will be utilizing supply from Tesoro at the former Rebel Oil service stations and convenience stores. It is expected that many of the sites will be rebranded to the Tesoro family of brands including Mobil, Arco am/pm or Tesoro.

"We are very pleased to add these 55 high-quality locations to our existing branded portfolio in Las Vegas and to further grow our business," said Claude Moreau, senior vice president of marketing for Tesoro. "This region is strategic for Tesoro as it provides supply flexibility from Tesoro's Los Angeles and Salt Lake City refineries and establishes a platform for the continued expansion of the Arco and Mobil brands."

With the sale of the stations and convenience stores to Anabi, Rebel will focus its business on its wholesale division, marketing fuel and lubricants. The pared down operations — the number of employees dropped to approximately 80 drivers, office staff and sales staff from over 500 — continue to be located in the company's Sahara Blvd. headquarters.

"We kept our fuel terminal, bulk plants, and our fleet of trucks," noted Gregg Benson, fuel operations controller for Rebel Oil. "We're still in business, pumping fuel and supplying. It's going smoothly. Call us if you need anything in southern Nevada and Northern Arizona."

With the addition of the Rebel Oil locations, Anabi Oil owns retail service stations and convenience stores in Alaska, Nevada, and across the state of California.

PW ENVIRONMENTAL PLEADS NO CONTEST TO GRAND THEFT

SACRAMENTO, CA. — Jordan-Botke Enterprises, Inc., doing business as PW Environmental, pled no contest to a felony charge of grand theft related to overbilling of cleanup costs submitted to the California State Water Board's Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund.

PW Environmental had started business as Pipe Ways in 1979, working in farms near its headquarters in Santa Paula, CA. In 1991, the company expanded its operations into investigation and remediation work at contaminated underground storage tank sites. PW Environmental has performed environmental and remediation work in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura and Kern Counties and has received almost $17 million in reimbursement from the Cleanup Fund for its work.

In its legal complaints, the state of California alleged that PW Environmental filed false claims against the state, including misleading and over-stated invoices, for 28 different cleanup sites including service stations, carwashes, country clubs, school districts, and even a vacant lot. The state also noted that they did not believe the owners of the properties involved were aware of the mis-billing.

Settling the felony charges, PW Environmental agreed to pay $19,000 in restitution to the state.

In addition to the criminal plea, a civil judgment has also been levied against PW.

Settling the civil charges, PW Environmental agreed to pay $281,000 to the state. The company also agreed that all work performed after October 31, 2014, would not be eligible for reimbursement from the state UST fund.

In addition, company co-owners Richard "Dick" Botke, William "Bill" Jordan, and Kim Jordan are barred from doing business with the State Water Board.

This debarment, the first of its kind in California, prohibits the co-owners from working at any sites under the jurisdiction of the State Water Board, including environmental cleanup sites and loan and grant sites.

"This debarment is the first of its kind by the State Water Board," said Cris Carrigan, Director of the Office of Enforcement. "The continued efforts of the Cleanup Fund and the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Prevention unit are sending a strong message to environmental consultants. Fraud will not be tolerated; it will be pursued and prosecuted to the maximum extent allowable by law."

INTERSTATE OIL ACQUIRES KEMGAS ROCKLIN OPERATIONS

SACRAMENTO, CA. — Interstate Oil has acquired the Rocklin, CA., operations of Kemgas, effective as of December. The purchase price was undisclosed.

The Kemgas headquarters, located in Ft. Bragg, CA., are still in operation with their original owners and serving the Northern California coastal marketplace.

Brent Andrews, president and CEO of Interstate Oil, said the acquisition will bring the company, "roughly 800 new customers in the propane sector up the I-80 corridor." The new customers will be served by Interstate Oil's existing staff.

"Interstate Oil and Kemgas are two family businesses," noted Andrews. "They picked us for this deal because they thought it was a good fit." He added, "We're excited for them and we're excited for their customers. It was an ideal acquisition."

FLYERS ACQUIRES GOODSPEED DISTRIBUTING

HESPERIA, CA. — R.E. Goodspeed & Sons Distributing, based here, has sold its operations to Flyers Energy LLC of Auburn, CA. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Included in the deal were all the assets of the Goodspeed Companies, including the company's bulk fuel, DEF delivery, lubricant services, the trucking fleet, the Hesperia bulk plant and cardlock fueling sites.

"It's the whole kit and caboodle," said Buck Goodspeed of Goodspeed & Sons, "transportation, cardlocks, lubes and fuel."

The Goodspeed family had been an active part of the fuel and lubricants marketing industry since 1932. In its most recent incarnation, R.E. Goodspeed & Sons Distributing was founded in Hesperia in 1980 and the company was operated by third generation owners Tom, John, and Buck Goodspeed and Ann Pachman and fourth generation Trevor Goodspeed.

However, the company leadership noted that "There has been a consolidation trend in our industry for quite some time enabling the larger companies to negotiate better supply contracts and maintain larger staffs to manage the huge environmental and constantly changing regulatory landscape." They believed it would be in the best interest for the company, its customers, and its staff to become part of a larger organization.

Buck said that as negotiations began, "I had a conversation with Dad about the potential for a sale and he said, 'What took you so long?' He could see the oil business being good to 2020 but he didn't tell us that last 15 years would be a shark feeding frenzy."

He continued, "Flyers is a good outfit and a good fit for us. It is a family-oriented organization. It's very well run, strong financially, and it's a fit for us and for our customers."

The sale is expected to close on February 4.

Originally published in the February 2016 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2016 by KAL Publications Inc.