DENVER -- Nearly four months after announcing plans to exit the Colorado market, BP announced this week that it has signed a deal with Denver-based K&G Petroleum to sell 50 company-owned gas stations. The company also announced it will withdraw from the retail market in the state by the end of the year.
We have a number of opportunities for investment across the country, so we made the decision to focus our investment in other markets, BP spokesperson Scott Dean told CSP Daily News in June, when the company announced its plans to exit the market.[image-nocss]
About 300 people work at BP company-owned stations in the state, and most of them are likely to be retained by the new owners, according to local Denver news reports. K&G is a privately held company that operates four stations in the Denver area under the Conoco and Shell brands. Terms of the sale agreement were not disclosed. Attempts to reach K&G officials for comment were unsuccessful.
The remaining 50 BP sites, owned by independent dealers with BP franchise agreements, are expected to take down their BP signs and operate as unbranded sites or enter into franchise agreements with other major brands, according to a report in the Denver Post. Major brands still operating in the market include Conoco, Shell and Valero.
BP became little more than a marketer in the Denver market after it sold off its Casper, Wyo., refinery several years ago. Therefore, it did not come as a surprise to most retailers in the area that BP would eventually choose to move out of the market.
A BP spokesperson explained the sale as a decision to focus our investments in other markets, a logical choice, according to one Denver c-store owner. If you figure they can get $60 million to $80 million for those stores, that's a pretty good chunk of change for BP to put to work somewhere else, he said.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.