Dateline: December 25, 2003

Texaco stations will convert to Shell

By Ashlee Kidd, Clarendon Enterprise

Motorists will soon no longer be seeing the Texaco star when stopping to get gas in Clarendon. 

Shell bought out Texaco two years ago and recently announced the conversion of its stations across the country.

The two stations in Clarendon were notified of the change by their Texaco gas distributors out of Amarillo.

“We buy our gas through Canadian Oil Company, and they told us ownership had broken up and that they would be converting to Shell,” said Paul Bivens, owner of the Texaco station at The Clarendon Outpost. “It just made sense that we make the change, too.”

Bivens said the change is slowly taking place.

“The signs are being ordered, and we anticipate that it will take place after the first of the year,” he said.

In order to make the change, some superficial changes will have to be made to both the Texaco station at The Clarendon Outpost at US 287 and Koogle Street and the Kidd Texaco station at US 287 and Jefferson Stret, which is a partnership between Doug Kidd and Bivens.

“Some paint and decals will be changed,” Bivens said. “Here at Outpost we will just be changing the awning and pumps, but at Kidd Texaco the whole exterior of the building will be changed.”

The pumps at both locations will be white baked enamel while the awnings will be yellow with red accents and the Shell logo. The building at Kidd Texaco will be repainted white, gray, and yellow.

Bivens said that the conversion should not affect customers other than the fact that their Texaco gas cards will be converted to Shell.

“I don’t foresee a rise in gas prices happening,” he said. “We will still be getting our gas from the same distributor. We will all just be under a different name.”

Bivens said the work will hopefully get started in January and be completed in mid February.

“I’m looking forward to getting this conversion over with so we can become whatever we’re going to be. For better or worse.”

The Outpost just finished replacing its underground storage tanks due to insurance regulations in order to meet the continued demand for gas.