Isaac spares oil refineries in Gulf, yet prices continued to climb over Labor Day weekend. Over Labor Day weekend millions of Americans hit the open road, but with gas prices spiking toward $4 per gallon, many elected to stay home. The oil companies blame Hurricane Isaac for causing the sudden inflation, but the increases continue…
CITGO Improves Safety Rates In 2011
CITGO earns awards and recognition for its increased safety rates in 2011. CITGO Petroleum Corp. saw significant improvements in its refining safety performance in 2011 with both its total recordable incident rate (TRIR) and days away, restricted or transferred (DART) rate falling to about half of what they were the previous year. CITGO excelled in…
CITGO Backs Social Development in Hillcrest Community
CITGO invests $1.5 million to support local non-profit organizations that will improve job development, education, health and environment. CITGO Petroleum Corp. and its Corpus Christi, Texas refinery plan to invest $1.5 million in the Hillcrest, Texas Community to give aid to non-profit organizations that support the neighborhood. CITGO executives greeted the community on May 17…
Sunoco Acquired By Energy Transfer Partners
As part of the acquisition agreement, ETP is to own Sunoco’s branded retail business, which includes approximately 4,900 retail locations in the U.S. Energy Transfer Partners L.P. (ETP) has acquired Sunoco Inc. The two companies today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby ETP will acquire Sunoco in a unit and…
BP Terminates Contract With Green Valley Oil
After an oil supply disruption leaves stations without gasoline, BP looks for new distributors. BP has terminated regional distributor Green Valley Oil’s contract, effective Friday, April 13, after some 218 BP stations faced supply disruptions in the greater Boston area. The 218 sites supplied by Green Valley Oil are in Massachusetts (122), Connecticut (55), New…
Sunoco Reports Preliminary Q4 2011 Pretax Results
Retail Marketing earned $40 million pretax in the current quarter versus $1 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Sunoco Inc. has reported a net pretax loss attributable to Sunoco shareholders of $660 million for the fourth quarter of 2011 versus pretax income attributable to Sunoco shareholders of $119 million for the fourth quarter of…
Wholesale Gasoline Costs Mixed in Early November
Wholesale gasoline costs were mixed in major metropolitan markets across the U.S. during the first week of November, while the broader trend is moving higher despite poor demand for gasoline. Should current dynamics hold, we could see the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) U.S. retail gasoline average moving higher into the Thanksgiving holiday from a four-week…
Is Big Oil Losing its Drawing Power?
For many, many years the power of the Big Oil brands was indisputable. They owned the refineries, the stations and the credit card networks to boot. While my father was an Exxon dealer and jobber for more than 30 years I distinctly remember seeing Shell and Texaco credit cards lying around the house. In those…
Breaking News: Sunoco Selling Refineries
“Given the unacceptable financial performance of these assets, it is clear that it is in the best interests of shareholders to exit this business,” says Sunoco CEO. Sunoco Inc. announced today, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011, that it plans to exit the refining business. Philadelphia-based Sunoco, which owns two refineries—one in Philadelphia and one in Marcus…
Marathon Petroleum Hungry For Acquisitions
Following its separation from Marathon Oil Corp., Marathon Petroleum is now preparing to grow its Speedway brand. Marathon Petroleum Corp., which spun off from Marathon Oil Corp. last month, is searching for acquisitions and seeking assets that meld with its strategy of refining oil and distributing the fuels produced, Reuters reported. “We have an appetite…