RAPID CITY, S.D. -- BP's recent decision to exit several states, including Louisiana, North Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, is spilling over into South Dakota, as well.
The major oil company said in late July that it was going to pull its brand from markets that are not near its own refineries. That means the BP name will disappear from most areas of South Dakota, remaining only in the southeast corner of the state, reported The Rapid City Journal.
One Rapid City, S.D., gasoline retailer is not concerned about BP largely pulling out [image-nocss] of South Dakota. We'll just get a new paint job and a new sign, Bob Rick, owner of Bob's BP, told the newspaper. He plans to sign up with a major distributor such as Shell or Mobil.
Rick has not yet struck a deal for a new brand, but he said he is not worried that he won't find a major brand. For almost 30 years, the station was named Bob's Amoco. Before that it was a Standard station.
BP had merged with Amoco back in 1998, but local stations kept the Amoco name until three years ago. BP launched a major branding campaign in South Dakota. At all Amoco stations, the familiar red, white and blue Amoco color scheme was replaced with the BP green and yellow.
Dave Kulish, general manager at M-G Oil, which operates a number of BP-brand convenience stores in the area, said M-G Oil is looking at its options for gasoline brands. We're looking at a branded network that can provide us with the best service, availability of product and a credit-card offering, he told the paper.
A good brand name and a consistent product are important to M-G Oil, he added. Gasoline, like other retail businesses, relies on a brand name that consumers recognize, said the report.
When BP changed the Amoco stations to BP three years ago, the company put a lot of marketing effort into it. That's why it surprised local dealers when the company announced it was pulling out, the Journal said. It was kind of a surprise, but it was a business decision for them, Kulish said.
BP said it will concentrate on markets where its own refineries can supply fuel. In western South Dakota, most of the gasoline and other fuels sold under the BP name are refined in Wyoming. Big oil companies contract with refiners in Wyoming to supply their branded stations with fuel. The fuel comes to Rapid City via the Rocky Mountain Products pipeline from Casper and Newcastle, Wyo., the report said. Once it arrives, the name-brand additives are mixed with the fuel and delivered to stations.
Local dealers have switch brand affiliations from time to time, said the report. In 2003, Big D Oil in Rapid City dropped Texaco and rebranded its stations to Cenex and Sinclair. Two years ago, the Corner Pantry c-store in Rapid City switched from Sinclair to Phillips. Even the Mobil name, which had almost disappeared locally, is now the gasoline brand at the new La Grand Station c-store near Interstate 90.
Click here to view CSP Daily News coverage of BP's withdrawal and how the BP Amoco Marketers Association is helping affected jobbers.
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