Posted on 03/17/2012 9:00:01 PM PDT by jeannineinsd
BP today corrected a number of inaccurate reports that the ARCO brand would be withdrawn from Southern California. BP remains committed to the ARCO and ampm convenience store brands.
BP announced plans to divest its Carson, California refinery and Southern California retail network in February 2011. The company intends to sell the refinery, associated businesses and the ARCO-branded retail network in 2012 as an on-going business. A number of prospective buyers have already expressed interest in the refinery and ARCO brand.
There are about 920 ARCO-branded stations in Southern California operated by independent dealers and franchisees. Approximately 130 of these ARCO-branded retail sites were leased from Thrifty Oil Company. The leases of these 130 sites will expire over the next two years and will revert back to Thrifty. The other 790 ARCO-branded sites are unaffected.
More than 100 Arco gasoline stations will begin disappearing in April and will be replaced by Tesoro-owned USA Gasoline outlets.
BP, which has owned Arco since 2000, is not renewing its leases with Thrifty Oil Co. at 257 station sites, according to a BP statement.
The company has notified its Arco franchisees, who sublet the sites from BP, that they will have to give up their stations as their leases expire over the next two years, according to the station owners. Some franchisees who lease through BP but operate under the Thrifty brand also will be out.
Tesoro said in a statement it will lease 240 of the Arco sites from Thrifty Oil and will phase in the USA stations beginning this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Good riddence.
Tesoro here in AK sucks. Always the first to raise prices and the last to lower them.
Kalifornia, lol.
If enough gas stations close, the nearest ones may be out of range for many people’s hybrids.
But that’s okay. The people can just meditate.
I still cannot understand why any petroleum producing company wants to continue to do business in a state or country which is obviously at war with that company and, in addition to its warring attitude, controls the levers of justice. I expect BP and Shell to both decrease their locations. The result? Fewer outlets, higher prices.
There’s an old truism in politics - when you tax the crap out of something, you get less of it. I hope the Democrats enjoy eating their own crap!
I still cannot understand why any petroleum producing company wants to continue to do business in a state or country which is obviously at war with that company and, in addition to its warring attitude, controls the levers of justice. I expect BP and Shell to both decrease their locations. The result? Fewer outlets, higher prices.
There’s an old truism in politics - when you tax the crap out of something, you get less of it. I hope the Democrats enjoy eating their own crap!
The companies call them "get healthy markets"
While looking for a related reference I stumbled upon a thread I posted in 2007 about gas prices. It had risen to $2.84 in San Diego and I was predicting $3 for summer.
In the midst of Obama attacking Newt's aiming for $2.50 per gallon target press, this part got me in the Mar 2, 2007, piece:
The federal Energy Information Administration reported this week that gasoline prices nationwide rose to $2.38 per gallon, up about 9 cents in a week and 13 cents higher than last year at this time.
$2.50 per gallon nationally was consider "high" under W. Under Obama it's deemed impossible, "lying" and "politics."
Oops, “target press” should be “target price”
As I was moving out of California for Arkansas in 1995, most of the ARCO stations were being bought up by persons of Arab decent. However, I did note that they sold hot dogs with pork in them. Do I miss the lower price that ARCO used to have?? Hell no!
Hope they lose their collective a$$ when ARCO closes down.
BUT the limitation on liability expires in a little over 2 years, and the liberal dominated state government has indicated it has no intention of changing this. That liability extends to any detectable levels of carcinogenic materials and any adjacent soil to that material, with the clean up not limited to the property boundaries.
That means if any levels of carcinogenic materials are found on an adjacent plot of land, even if it came from a different source, the gas station owner or lessee is forever liable for it. All stations will be required to post bond for the maximum liability as calculated by the state.
That liability cascades - if detectable materials are discovered on one plot of land adjacent, and then more materials are detected on the plot adjacent to that, then the station owner is responsible for the clean up there as well. And every station is up against a public street which will ALWAYS register carcinogenic materials.
It is the biggest possible superfund scam ever. And companies are trying to isolate themselves from that potential never ending liability. As presently defined under the law, any gas station in the Signal Hill area or the La Brea area would be responsible for every inch of soil for miles around due to natural seepage of oil up through the ground.
This will, somehow, eventually be fixed, but BP has no desire to expose their shareholders to trillions and trillions of liability. Meanwhile, liberals are anticipating no less than half of all gas stations will shut down within the next two years. Less pumps, less gas powered cars on the road. Win win for their pet ‘green energy’ projects.
I’m happy to flip them a gloved bird and patronize their competition. I patronize the cheaper location when sucking up 25 gallons of regular into the F150 too. To paraphrase an acronym FUBP.
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