Chevron’s General Aviation 'Aligns its Assets with Supply
Strengths'
Responding to an inquiry from ANN late Tuesday, Chevron
General Aviation General Manager Keith Sawyer has responded with an
official statement on their behalf. ANN's inquiry was necessitated
by the receipt of reports and documents alleging that Chevron was
poised to pull out of a significant part of the GA fuel market and
cut a number of programs that benefitted the industry.
Couched as 'part of its downstream restructuring efforts'
Chevron confirmed changes to its GA business 'to adapt to changing
market conditions and to successfully compete in the
marketplace.'
“After an extensive review of our General Aviation
business, we are changing our business model,” said General
Aviation General Manager Keith Sawyer. “We are aligning our
aviation marketing assets with our manufacturing (refining) system
to focus on the areas where our supply reliability is
strongest.”
Effective June 1, 2010, General Aviation will only market
Chevron- and Texaco-branded aviation fuels in the following states:
Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
Chevron states that it will, "continue to be a leading
manufacturer of jet fuel and aviation gasoline but is changing its
branded distribution channel to reduce costs while continuing to
serve the aviation industry. Chevron will utilize its major
distributor, Hiller/Air Petro, to sell aviation fuel to the general
aviation market."
“We are pleased that Hiller/Air Petro will continue to
represent the Chevron and Texaco brands. This organization is
well-established with a team of knowledgeable, experienced aviation
professionals who offer a superior level of customer focus,”
stated Sawyer.
General Aviation will withdraw from marketing Chevron- and
Texaco-branded aviation fuels in 27 states (approximately 200
locations). These states are beyond the distributive reach of
Chevron’s refinery system. The planned market withdrawal will
be completed by November 15, 2010. Chevron states specifically
that, "These actions have no impact on product supply. Aviation
customers should not experience any impact as a result of this
transition."
Industry experts voice concern about this change in business
strategy, noting that GA fuel supplies are already seeing
constraint and increased pricing that could signal "significantly
higher fuel prices this summer. One analyst suggests that "$8-$9
gallon fuel prices are not out of the question if this supply and
pricing pressure persists and other sources of supply are not made
available." Other analysts insist that the future of GA fuel
supplies rests on the development and certification of alternate
fuels that can be run without extensive modification to the current
GA fleet... and that several programs do exist to meet that spec IF
the industry and regulatory entities step up to see these programs
through to commercial reality and availability.
ANN will update the story as data and information becomes
available.