BP took over all teh amaco's a while back in this area. so now i either find Exxon, Texaco, or BP for gas.

 

Off the BP tour the local group did last year, it was told to us that BP and Amoco have been "merged" for quite a while now.

BP realizes the huge brand equity in the Amoco Silver, Gold, and Ultimate products across the US. It would be dumb for them to not leverage that name to the consumer.

From what I remember, British Petroleum has been in the states for years upon years. I remember seeing BP stations in the south on road trips when I was still in grade school (I'm far removed from grade school, and college for that matter).

You may want to get more clarification from another board member, who happens to have much more specific knowledge about BP. He is Ulrich.

 

I hate to be outed.

Anyways, Ladies and Gents, this is the scoop. BP and Amoco merged in 1998. At the time the company wasn't quite sure what to do with the new organization, so they just renamed themselves "BP Amoco" and for the most part it was business as usual while people behind the scene tried to sort out the various assets, squeeze some efficiencies out of streamlining operations, remove duplication of efforts, etc. Then in 2000 the company also acquired ARCO on the west coast and Castrol as a lubricant manufacturer/marketer. Eventually they company changed names again to just "BP" -- which coincidentally doesn't stand for anything anymore. It's just BP. Not British Petroleum.

At some point in time the company settled on a strategy where they would rename and re-image all retail sites to BP (part of a global strategy -- there were other mergers/acquisitions happening elsewhere in the world), but at the same time they realized the brand value and competitive advantage of the Amoco fuels in the US market, so they got the best of both worlds: BP selling Amoco Ultimate. Ultimate has always been produced through a proprietary process and is "better" than other premium fuels, so the real change at the pump is that all former BP stations are now selling "Amoco" fuels as well.

On the West Coast it's a slightly different story. BP was not operating (m)any retail sites over there, so there was very little overlap with the ARCO network (most BP stations in California were actually owned by a third-party and had changed to 76 before the acquisition), so out west they did not change the ARCO brand to BP because it is a different operating model anyway that is well-accepted in the market and they would not gain anything by changing brands (probably just the opposite).

But just to be clear: There is no separate "Amoco" anymore that owns anything (tanks, terminals, refineries). There is just "BP" which consists of all the assets of the old British Petroleum, Amoco and ARCO. One company. And BP had been in the US since the 70s when they invested in and eventually acquired SOHIO.

FWIW, if there is a Texaco station that has been re-branded into BP, then I assume it's owned by an independent operator who just signed a new supply contract with a different supplier. Different story.

Hope that clears things up.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MyBad
I heard the commercial for the first time this morning. Amoco stations will be reflagged with BP colors and name. Those stations will still sell Amoco gas but will look just like a BP station. If I ONLY want Amoco gas, how will I know which BP station to go to?

 

WTF is Amoco Ultimate?

For what it's worth, I've noticed a couple Texaco stations turning into Shell stations. Everything else appears to be business as usual here in DFW.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lovetodrive2000

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Elistan
WTF is Amoco Ultimate?

 

Ulrich:

As SME in fuel, is there any truth to this:
I have heard that some oil companies do not use oil from the Middle East - and that Citgo is one of them. I find it hard to believe.

?????

 

bit off topic but... a business associate's wife is managing all the retail mergers in NE IL and SE WI (chicagoland/milw)...her focus is on the BP grocery-quick-mart style shop that many of our Amoco's lacked. THIS IS A HUGE margin (profit) business for the station owner. I believe she works for a consulting firm that gets paid $$$ to coordinate the marketing within the stores. What kills that plan is the pay-at-the-pump. BP will "invite" more consumers inside.

My S usually gets AMOCO ultimate. Now i can get that, a $3 slurpee and some nachos.

 

If I was charitable, I'd call that crap.

The oil market is so fluid (no pun intended) that nobody knows where oil is coming from or where it's going to. When a cargo of crude travels from Africa to the US, it can be traded over 30 times during that journey. Who is to say who ends up with it?

Also, let's say crude oil is being shipped from Lybia to Rotterdam, where it is refined into gasoline. If there is an arbitrage opportunity (let's say a shortage on the east coast that causes a price spike) that gasoline is then shipped to the US. At that point nobody will know where the original oil was coming from, and on the US custom docs it will be written up as an import from Europe. You diodn't know that Europe was a big oil producing continent, eh (not counting Norway/Russia, of course).

Also, keep in mind that different crudes have different properties (sulfur content for one; sweet crude vs. sour crude) and that in order to keep the refinery running efficiently, different oils may have to be blended together. Traders don't care where the oil is coming from, as long as it has the properties that they need. So you might get gasoline that is made from 95% Nigerian crude, but for some reason they had to stick in 5% Basra crude to balance the sulfur in order to keep the cracker in the refinery working. Or something like that (I have not spent a single day in refining, and if I God keeps me in his good graces, that will remain so until I die!).

The closest I can think of a company that is for the most part not relying on middle-Eastern oil would be ARCO. At least in the past -- AFAIK -- they used to get most of their oil from their own field in Alaska. But I am sure that they source/trade some oil from other places as well.

Now, Citgo is owned by PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company. Will they try to source most of the crude for their refineries from their own fields? Probably. Will they never trade and buy oil elsewhere? I highly doubt that.

I know where you're coming from, though; I saw that chain mail on the internet last year as well. Don't believe everything you get on the 'net.