The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business

Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

TEXACO retailers said yesterday that their new distributor, Rubis, had “saved a lot of us”, with their gas stations said to be rebranded under the new owner’s banner from June 2013.

Ryan Knowles, general manager of Wells Service Station, told Tribune Business: “They are definitely a company that is working with us.

“Obviously their hands are tied on certain issues, but I think that’s expected with any oil company dealing with the Government. But they are here and they are doing well. They have told us that they are going to rebrand the company as of June next year.

“It’s been a pleasant ride from dealing with Chevron and going to Rubis. They were able to show that to the public by giving that special to the public at $4.90 at the beginning of August, and that led to a good boost in sales.”

RUBIS recently took advantage of an opportunity to offer its customers fuel under $5 per gallon as a means to introduce the company into the local market.

RUBIS’ western Caribbean general manager, Stewart Gill, told Tribune Business recently that the company’s re-branding initiative for its 20 stations in the Bahamas would begin in the third quarter of next year.

   Rodney Eve, general manager of Texaco on Prince Charles Drive, speaking on the Rubis transition said: “That has been a positive thing for us. What they were able to do is give us a little more leverage with that prepayment programme that Chevron had started, so Rubis had sort of saved a lot of us by being a little more lenient. Y

“ou pay for a load and then you don’t pay for the next one until you get the third one, and that has been a great help for us. They are working with us’ it’s a positive thing.”

Bernard Dorsett, owner of Porky’s Service Station, said: “They are still getting their feet wet. Truthfully, they have been working with me as compared with the other guys.”

   Chevron announced back in May that it had concluded the sale of its fuels marketing and aviation businesses in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Turks & Caicos to Vitogaz, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RUBIS.

The French multinational energy company, as a result, gained ownership of 39 retail stations, eight aviation facilities, six fuel terminals and one joint operation at the Nassau airport terminal, and a commercial and industrial fuels business.

These assets are in addition to Chevron’s previously announced sale in the Caribbean and parts of Central America to RUBIS in July 2011 that consisted of 174 service stations operating under the Texaco brand, an equity interest in an associated refinery operation, proprietary and joint-venture terminals and aviation facilities, and Chevron’s commercial and industrial fuels business.