Just over a year after its merger, ChevronTexaco (the entity that resulted when the two oil giants came together after a landmark $45 billion deal) has released some of the details of its newly realigned general aviation fuel business. Representing only a tiny percentage of even its airline-centered fuels trade, the general aviation sliver of the pie is, nevertheless, an important one to the merged companies, or so they say.
Evidence of their commitment to business and general aviation was recently provided during a visit by a team of top ChevronTexaco aviation fuels executives to AIN’s office, marking the merged companies’ first year of operations.

Despite divestiture to Avfuel of 130 FBOs previously branded to Texaco (roughly half its locations), the new ChevronTexaco is still a dominant player in the FBO trade.
According to its records, ChevronTexaco supplies the fuel needs of 17 percent of the U.S. domestic FBO market while maintaining a 25-percent market share by volume.
That works out to daily sales of some 35,000 gallons of avgas and jet-A. To put that in perspective, 35,000 gallons wouldn’t fill a Boeing 747-400 (with its 57,285-gallon capacity).

“Nevertheless, ChevronTexaco is committed to this market,” said Keith Sawyer, manager of brand and business development for the general aviation division. “Our press toward that market is reflected by the fact that we’re represented at 38 of the top 50 general aviation airports. The lion’s share of that daily 35,000 gallons goes to just over 750 contracted customers, both FBOs and consumer accounts.”

These figures place ChevronTexaco at number two, just seven percentage points behind the combined market of the independents, which accounts for some 24 percent of the business. A scant two-tenths of a percentage point after ChevronTexaco is Avfuel, closely followed at 16 percent by Phillips. Bringing up the back of the pack are Air BP-branded FBOs with 12.2 percent of the business, Shell with 9.3 percent and Exxon with 4.6 percent.

“Our merger is proving to be an interesting combination of two quite different public perceptions,” said Dale Anderson, general manager of ChevronTexaco’s general aviation division. “Texaco has always been something of the Harley Davidson of the general aviation fuels division, always out there aggressively selling, while Chevron has been something of the Honda of the business–just out here quietly doing its job.