Parkland Fuel Acquires Rhinehart Oil
HollyFrontier Acquires Red Giant Oil
California District Court Dismisses Climate Change Lawsuit
PBF Energy Fined by California DTSC
CIOMA Rebrands to California Fuels & Convenience Alliance

PARKLAND FUEL ACQUIRES RHINEHART OIL

AMERICAN FORK, UT. — Rhinehart Oil Co., Inc., based here, has been acquired by Parkland Fuel Corporation of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The price for the purchase, which was announced in August, was not disclosed.

Included in the deal were all of Rhinehart Oil's fuel, lubricant, and chemical business and its operations in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico including four cardlocks, nine retail sites and ten distribution facilities.

Rhinehart distributes approximately 72 million gallons of fuel and lubricants per year in the Rocky Mountain territory.

"The Rhinehart acquisition represents a significant expansion for Parkland," said Bob Espey, president and CEO of Parkland Corporation, announcing the deal. "Rhinehart has an excellent business and asset base that will serve as a platform for growth in Utah, Colorado and neighboring states."

"We are excited to welcome Dave and John Jardine from the Rhinehart leadership team — and the rest of the Rhinehart employees — to the Parkland team," added Espey.

"Rhinehart is a prominent fuel distributor and a well-scaled and respected ExxonMobil lubricants distributor," added Doug Haugh, president of Parkland USA. "The addition of Rhinehart to the Parkland USA team provides us with the talented staff and infrastructure we need to establish our Regional Operations Center ("ROC") for the Rocky Mountain[s]."

Haugh predicted that the Rhinehart Oil assets will "drive organic growth and enable further acquisitions across the region."

The acquisition was expected to close at the end of August, subject to regulatory approvals.

HOLLYFRONTIER ACQUIRES RED GIANT OIL

DALLAS, TX. — HollyFrontier has acquired Red Giant Oil Company of Council Bluffs, IA. The purchase price for the sale of the private, family-owned lubricants company was not disclosed.

Red Giant Oil was one of the largest suppliers of locomotive engine oil in North America. Included in the sale were the company's storage facilities in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, along with a blending and packaging facility in Texas.

Announcing the deal, George Damiris, president and CEO of HollyFrontier, said, "We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Red Giant Oil, with its outstanding history and brand in the railroad lubricant industry. This transaction demonstrates the continued growth of our lubricant business and brings outstanding value to HollyFrontier."

The sale of Red Giant is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.

CALIFORNIA DISTRICT COURT DISMISSES CLIMATE CHANGE LAWSUIT

SAN RAMON, CA. — In a court decision handed down at the end of June, lawsuits filed against BP, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell Corporation claiming they were responsible for climate change have been dismissed.

The cities of San Francisco and Oakland had filed lawsuits against the major oil companies in 2017 asking for damages caused by climate change. The suits claimed that the production and sale of oil and gas are a public nuisance because they result in greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to worldwide climate change and rising sea levels.

Similar suits have been filed in other U.S. cities and counties, including King County, WA., and, in several cases, by the same lawyers.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the complaint, saying it required foreign and domestic policy decisions that are outside the proper purview of the courts.

As the Court described, "the scope of plaintiffs' theory is breathtaking. It would reach the sale of fossil fuels anywhere in the world, including all past and otherwise lawful sales."

"It is true," the Court continued, "that carbon dioxide released from fossil fuels has caused (and will continue to cause) global warming. But against that negative, we must weigh this positive: our industrial revolution and the development of our modern world has literally been fueled by oil and coal. Without these fuels, virtually all of our monumental progress would have been impossible. All of us have benefitted. Having reaped the benefit of that historic progress, would it really be fair to now ignore our own responsibility in the use of fossil fuels and place the blame for global warming on those who supplied what we demanded? Is it really fair, in light of those benefits, to say that the sale of fossil fuels was unreasonable?"

The Court concluded, "The dangers raised in the complaints are very real. But those dangers are worldwide. Their causes are worldwide. The benefits of fossil fuels are worldwide. The problem deserves a solution on a more vast scale than can be supplied by a district judge or jury in a public nuisance case. While it remains true that our federal courts have authority to fashion common law remedies for claims based on global warming, courts must also respect and defer to the other co-equal branches of government when the problem at hand clearly deserves a solution best addressed by those branches."

Discussing the District Court's decision, R. Hewitt Pate, Chevron's vice president and general counsel, stated, "Reliable, affordable energy is not a public nuisance but a public necessity. Tackling the difficult international policy issues of climate change requires honest and constructive discussion. Using lawsuits to vilify the men and women who provide the energy we all need is neither honest nor constructive."

PBF ENERGY FINED BY CALIFORNIA DTSC

TORRANCE, CA. — PBF Energy Inc.'s refinery here has been fined $150,000 for allegedly storing hazardous waste illegally.

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control levied the fine after an inspection earlier this year found 364 bins of hazardous oil-related waste stored on the refinery premises without a permit or other authorization from the agency, according to the press statement from the DTSC.

In March, the DTSC ordered PBF Energy to remove or recycle the hazardous waste. According to the agency, PBF Energy agreed to recycle or dispose of the contents over the course of the year or face fines of $6,000 per bin.

"We are disappointed with the DTSC's characterization [of the oil] which can be legally recycled at the refinery and is not classified as an on-site hazardous waste," said Barbara Graham, community relations manager for the Torrance refinery. "As part of the settlement agreement, we are in the process of recycling the OBM at the refinery and will properly dispose of any remaining materials as agreed.

"In a spirit of cooperation and to avoid a lengthy appeals process, we agreed to enter into this settlement so that we can focus on running the Torrance refinery in a safe, reliable, and environmentally responsible manner," Graham continued.

PBF Energy has been running the former ExxonMobil refinery since its purchase in July 2016. The refinery has a capacity to process 155,000 barrels of crude oil daily as well as jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gases.

CIOMA REBRANDS TO CALIFORNIA FUELS & CONVENIENCE ALLIANCE

SACRAMENTO, CA. — After over 50 years as the California Independent Oil Marketers Association, CIOMA has rebranded itself as the California Fuels & Convenience Alliance or CFCA, effective as of August 15.

Nathan Crum, 2018 president of the CFCA Board of Directors, explained that the new name will "Maintain a clear message of who we are and what we do."

He continued, it will "maintain an opportunity for our industry to remain innovative in developing the future of all fuels sold in California. In a world in which California legislators attempt to ban all petroleum fuels, we may eventually be selling exclusively ethanol, biodiesel, and hydrogen fuels. Or something completely different. But we cannot imagine a California without liquid fuels and lubricants. And they're likely going to be largely purchased at convenience stores."

Crum added, "Over the years, the 'oil' in our name has continued to be associated with 'big oil,' regardless of our efforts to distance ourselves from WSPA and its members. At this point, many legislators simply will not meet with us, and our donation checks are returned. They cannot be seen helping 'evil oil companies.' They've even said, 'Let's talk once you don't have 'oil' in your name.' It's an actual problem."

Announcing the change, CFCA Executive Director Ryan Hanretty stated, "Since our organization was founded in 1952, the fuels and convenience industry has evolved tremendously.

"Over the course of our history, CIOMA has come to not only represent the independent marketers of fuels, but all of California's gas stations, convenience stores, and service stations. The leaders throughout the history of our industry have brought us to this current opportunity.

"We know that gas stations are the most recognizable part of the fuels and convenience industry in people's everyday lives," Hanretty continued. "This new brand will better help the public and governmental regulators understand the different sectors within the complex fuel supply chain and distinguish our members from the refiners."

He added, "CFCA will continue to proudly represent the small, family- and minority-owned businesses that keep California moving forward."

The CFCA will continue to be based in Sacramento, CA.

Originally published in the September 2018 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2018 by KAL Publications Inc.