Andeavor Buys Flyers Gasoline Stations, Flyers Continues Wholesale Expansion
HollyFrontier Acquires 2 Utah Pipelines
Alta Acquires R.H. Smith C-Stores, Continues Expansion
Andeavor to Launch Arco Brand in Mexico

ANDEAVOR BUYS FLYERS GASOLINE STATIONS, FLYERS CONTINUES WHOLESALE EXPANSION

AUBURN, CA. — Flyers Energy continues to reshape and expand their company in a series of deals that closed in July.

At the end of the month, Flyers Energy signed the deal to sell its 39 Flyers-owned gasoline stations and convenience stores to Andeavor. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

New owner Andeavor (formerly Tesoro) has the right to rebrand the stations within the next 12 months. The company said there are plans to rebrand some of the sites to Arco, Shell, Exxon, and Mobil.

All of the acquired stations — except for two locations — will reportedly remain on the CFN network.

With the sale, Flyers Energy has exited the retail fuel business.

"Refiners are looking for strategies to distribute their products, so the business climate was right for us to sell our retail stores," said Walt Dwelle, managing partner for Flyers, based in Auburn, CA. "We continue to grow in commercial products, including renewable energy, and are still acquiring other companies when the deal is right."

He continued, "Retail is where we began and it was a difficult decision to give it up but it's a relatively small part of our business today."

Dwelle also noted that Flyers is still looking to continue its own expansion and would not turn away from a future deal that may include acquiring retail stores.

While Flyers may be leaving fuel retail sales, it is expanding its lubricants operations. The company has reportedly acquired the Andeavor lubricants business in Las Vegas, Tucson, and Phoenix. Andeavor had acquired the lubricants operations from Western Refining when the two companies merged on June 1.

As part of the expansion of their lubricants line, Flyers has signed a deal with ExxonMobil to be the exclusive distributor for Mobil branded lubricants in northern Nevada and 45 counties in California. The deal includes all of Mobil's passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle, and industrial lubricant lines.

HOLLYFRONTIER ACQUIRES 2 UTAH PIPELINES

DALLAS, TX. — HollyFrontier has acquired full ownership of two pipelines in Utah for $250 million.

The company's pipeline business, Holly Energy Partners, already owned partial stakes in the Frontier Aspen Pipeline and the SLC Pipeline operating in the Rockies — half of Frontier Aspen and a quarter of SLC.

Under the deal signed with Plains All American Pipeline in August, HollyFrontier acquired 100% interest in both pipelines.

Plains All American said they are selling off some of their assets "that aren't part of its core business focus."

The Frontier Aspen Pipeline is a 289-mile crude pipeline from Wyoming to Utah that supplies Salt Lake City area refiners. The Salt Lake City Pipeline is a 95-mile crude pipeline that transports crude oil into the Salt Lake City area from Utah.

ALTA ACQUIRES R.H. SMITH C-STORES, CONTINUES EXPANSION

DENVER, CO. — Western Alta Holdings has acquired the operations of five convenience stores in a joint venture with R.H. Smith Distributing Company Inc., of Yakima, WA. Terms of the deal, which closed on August 1, were not disclosed.

The c-stores included in the deal are located in Yakima, Ellensburg, and West Richland, WA. They will continue to operate under their current Smitty's brand and image.

Western Alta Holdings is the parent company of Pester Marketing/Alta Convenience Stores and all of the newly acquired Washington locations will be managed by Pester Marketing/Alta from their headquarters in Denver, CO.

"We are very excited about the opportunities these five stores and our partnership with R.H. Smith Inc. bring to our company" said Phil Zaccaria, CEO of Western Alta, announcing the deal. "The R.H Smith management team has been in business in this area of Washington for over 70 years and they have developed many valuable relationships that will bring other opportunities for us to evaluate."

Earlier in the year, Western Alta Holdings acquired six convenience stores in Colorado in a joint venture with Loco Inc. Those stores were located in Grand Junction, Fruita, and Glenwood Springs, CO., and Alta took over operations of the stores on March 1.

He noted that Western Alta President "Rich Spresser's many years in this business make these types of growth opportunities available to Western Alta," adding that "expansion is on the mind" and they "are not planning on stopping anytime soon."

With the acquisition of the R.H. Smith Distributing stores, Alta Convenience now operates 66 locations throughout Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Washington.

ANDEAVOR TO LAUNCH ARCO BRAND IN MEXICO

SAN ANTONIO, TX. — As the calendar turned to August 1, Tesoro changed its corporate name to Andeavor. That change is only one of several taking place with the major oil company that will affect the petroleum marketing industry in the West.

The company has signed a deal to begin supplying and marketing fuels in Mexico, in the border states of Sonora and Baja California. Andeavor officials say they have been "evaluating opportunities in Mexico for some time and believe the Mexican States of Sonora and Baja California are an excellent fit with its U.S. West Coast system."

The Mexican market had been closed to foreign brands, with a state-owned monopoly held by Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Under the new agreement, Andeavor was awarded capacity in the open season for Northwest Mexico on the Pemex oil products pipeline and storage terminals, allowing Andeavor to move its products into Mexico.

Andeavor has also signed a deal with Profesional Fuels Solutions, S.A. de C.V. (ProFuels) to begin wholesale marketing operations in Mexico under the Arco brand. ProFuels has been distributing fuels in northwest Mexico for the past 26 years and is the largest operator of retail gasoline stations in the territory.

In addition, Andeavor is building Arco-branded service stations in Sonora and Baja. The first of the stations are expected to be open and operational by the end of the third quarter.

"We are very excited to begin operations in Mexico and to launch the Arco brand. This agreement furthers our strategic marketing integration and presents a tremendous opportunity to offer a high-quality fuel in a growing market," said Andeavor CEO Greg Goff, announcing the deal.

All of the supply and marketing operations with Mexico are expected to be integrated into Andeavor's West Coast Refining and Logistics system.

Andeavor officials say they expect the Arco brand in Baja and Sonora "to achieve a leading market position in both states."

Originally published in the September 2017 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2017 by KAL Publications Inc.