Headlines

October 17, 2008
National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC): U.S. E85 Locations Now Top 1,800

There are now more than 1,800 gasoline stations across the U.S. which offer E85, the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) announced this week.
  
Specifically, there are currently 1,802 U.S. E85 stations, with 1,693 of those available to the public.
  
"It's exciting to see E85 stations grow so rapidly within the past year," said NEVC Executive Director Phil Lampert. "From the humble total of 50 E85 stations in 2001, we believe that E85 represents the only significant growth opportunity in the field of liquid fuels," he added.
  
Currently, the states with the highest number of E85 sites are: Minnesota with 357, Illinois with 188 and Missouri with 112, NEVC noted. However, there are seven states that have no E85 stations: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Alaska and Hawaii.
 
The NEVC is hopeful more E85 stations will crop up, as a result of both state and federal incentives. As part of the 2007 energy bill, a new grant program for retailers was established to install E85 pumps, authorizing $200 million for FY2008-2014, and the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act was amended to ensure that franchisees are empowered to install or convert equipment to offer alternative fuels, provided they have the liability associated with the decision.
  
Automakers are working on the other half of the E85 infrastructure problem, pledging to produce more flexible fuel vehicles, which can run on higher ethanol blends up to 85%.There are currently an estimated six million FFVs and GM, along with Chrysler and Ford, pledged in June 2006 to collectively double annual FFV production to 2 million by 2010. After a November 2006 White House meeting, the automakers said they'd produce up to half of their fleet in 2012 that is FFV capable, if assured an adequate ethanol supply and distribution infrastructure.

October 14, 2008
Exxon Jobber Teams up With Grocery Chain to Test Coupon Offer

Grocery chain Supervalu and ExxonMobil marketer Lehigh Oil have teamed up for a pilot test that offers coupon discounts for consumers shopping at 50 or so Acme supermarkets in the greater Philadelphia area.

Customers qualify for a 5cts/gal discount, capped at 15 gallons, when they use the chain's Acme SuperCard. Each additional $25 grocery purchase above the $50 mark qualifies customers for an additional 5cts/gal. Hence, a shopper spending $150 on Acme merchandise gets coupons worth 25cts/gal. Prescriptions, alcohol, lottery tickets, and alcohol are excluded from the program.

Acme's parent company, Supervalu, and Lehigh are sharing funding for the program, sources say. The test will run 16 weeks and is only for the Pennsylvania side of the Philadelphia market. Supervalu has about 2,500 stores in the U.S., so the test could provide a template for other offers. The chain also retails under the Albertsons, Cub, Farm Fresh, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaw's, and Shop 'N Save banners.

October 3, 2008
New West Close to Selling Southern California Stores

New West Petroleum is close to completing the sale of 32 California c-stores that it put on the block last November. The properties, located mainly in San Diego, are in escrow and will close within 60 days, said Evan Gladstone of NRC Realty Advisors, the firm handling the sale.
  
The c-stores will be sold to 8-10 buyers, said to include United Oil, based in Gardena, Calif., and the multi-branded G&M Oil Co., based in Huntington Beach, Calif. Neither NRC nor New West could confirm who will buy the properties. In addition to the San Diego stores, New West, headquartered in Sacramento, was offering for sale several other c-stores in Northern California.
  
The sales will mark New West's exit from the retail business, but the firm will continue to grow wholesale operations, including biodiesel, said its owner, Gil Moore.

September 22, 2008
BP Sells Key Southeast Markets to Jobber

A broad coalition of ethanol producers, automakers, convenience store owners, BP is about to finalize a deal to sell its stations and open dealer accounts in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale to long-time wholesaler Max Alvarez and his company, Sunshine Gasoline Distributors.
  
Under the deal, Sunshine will acquire about 90 locations, 38 of them company- owned. The remaining stations are leased outlets or operated by open dealers, Oil Express sources say.
  
The transaction represents a major expansion for Alvarez and Sunshine. The company currently operates around 150 stations, primarily under Citgo and Chevron flags, moving approximately 200 million gals/yr. The BP sites are expected to boost the firm's volume by another 120-130 million gals annually. The sites come with a 20-year branding commitment with BP, sources say.

September 10, 2008
Coalition Urges Pelosi to Add E85 Infrastructure Tax Credit to
Energy Bill

A broad coalition of ethanol producers, automakers, convenience store owners, petroleum marketers and equipment manufacturers is asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "to strongly consider" including E85 infrastructure tax credits in any upcoming energy bill or stimulus package.

"Both Presidential candidates and several members of Congress have recently called for mandatory production of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs)," which can run on higher blends of ethanol up to 85%, said Phil Lampert, executive director of the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC). "We support increased production of flexible fuel vehicles, but frankly, that overlooks the primary issue and that is the lack of sites to fuel these E85 vehicles," he said.
  
There are currently an estimated 6 million FFVs on U.S. roads, but with only 1,731 E85 stations. Without an E85 station nearby, many consumers end up filling their FFVs with conventional gasoline instead.
  
Therefore, the coalition is urging Pelosi to include H.R. 6734, an E85- related bill introduced in late July by Reps. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D- S.D.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), in whatever energy-related bill the House debates in the remaining few weeks of the congressional session.
  
Currently, the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property credit allows gas station owners to claim a 30% tax credit for the cost of installing clean-fuel vehicle refueling property up to a maximum of $30,000. H.R. 6734 raises the amount of the credit from 30% of the cost of qualifying property to 50%, up to a maximum of $100,000, and allows station owners to claim the value for the entire cost of dual purpose fuel dispensers.
  
Passage of H.R. 6734 would "overcome one of the major obstacles to the availability of alternative and renewable fuels infrastructure by offsetting a major portion of the expense of such equipment," said John Eichberger, National Association of Convenience Stores' (NACS) vice president of government relations. "The Congress must create more favorable conditions for retailers to enter into the alternative fuel business and H.R. 6734 would do so. We encourage the Speaker to consider including this important bill in any energy or stimulus legislation that might come out of the final days of this session of Congress," he added.
  
Among the 59 signatories on the letter to Pelosi are NEVC, NACS, the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, the Petroleum Equipment Institute, Dresser Wayne, Inc., and VeraSun.

Pelosi plans to introduce an energy-related package later this week. While its specific details are not known, the bill will likely allow some limited offshore drilling, contain curbs on market speculation and a fund to promote alternative fuels.