Will Become The Sole Distributer For Chevron AV Fuel In 13
States
The Hiller Group announced this week that, effective June 1,
2010, it will become Chevron's sole branded distributor of Chevron
aviation fuels for general aviation in the following 13 states:
Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
Hiller/Air Petro will market under the Chevron and Texaco brands
in these states. The company will also continue to offer its other
marketing and branding options in other regions of the U.S., such
as the Phillips 66 brand in the Midwest.
"We are excited by our new marketing responsibilities and the
range of services we will offer new and existing customers, helping
them grow their business," said Hiller Group CEO Martin Hiller.
"Our refinery and terminal network provides customers long-term
reliable supply of aviation gasoline and jet fuel. One of our core
beliefs is the power of P3 - where quality people, quality
products, and quality processes create real value."
The Hiller Group purchased Air Petro Corporation in March, with
the acquisition finalized May 1, At the time, Marty Hiller, Hiller
Group CEO & President, said "We have enjoyed a long-standing
relationship with Air Petro's owners, the Ulberg family, and have a
tremendous amount of respect for their accomplishments. Key
management will remain in place to assure Air Petro's customers
ongoing high service standards. We look forward to working with the
Air Petro customers to help them grow their business by working
with our quality people, processes, and products. The growth of our
marketing area further enables us to strengthen our customer
programs nationwide. This combined entity will provide aviation
solutions to almost 600 customers."
But as
ANN reported earlier this week, Chevron General Aviation
General Manager Keith Sawyer said "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."
However, the move is causing concern among some in the aviation
community that avgas could become scarce, and expensive. 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.