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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 10-K

 

x   ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED AUGUST 31, 2004

 

¨   TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the transition period from              to             

 

Commission File No. 333-35083

 


 

UNITED REFINING COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Pennsylvania   25-1411751

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

 

See Table of Additional Subsidiary Guarantor Registrants

 

15 Bradley Street,

Warren, PA

  16365-3299
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

 

(814) 723-1500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 


 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 (b) of the Act:

 

None

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 (g) of the Act:

 

None

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13, or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.     Yes  x    No  ¨

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  x

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12-b – 2).    Yes  ¨    No  x

 

As of November 24, 2004, 100 shares of the Registrant’s common stock, $0.10 par value per share, were outstanding. All shares of common stock of the Registrant’s are held by an affiliate. Therefore, the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the Registrant is zero.

 

Documents Incorporated by Reference: None

 



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TABLE OF ADDITIONAL REGISTRANTS

 

Name


   State of Other
Jurisdiction of
Incorporation


   IRS Employer
Identification
Number


   Commission
File Number


Kiantone Pipeline Corporation

   New York    25-1211902    333-35083-01

Kiantone Pipeline Company

   Pennsylvania    25-1416278    333-35083-03

United Refining Company of Pennsylvania

   Pennsylvania    25-0850960    333-35083-02

United Jet Center, Inc.

   Delaware    52-1623169    333-35083-06

Kwik-Fill Corporation

   Pennsylvania    25-1525543    333-35083-05

Independent Gas and Oil Company of Rochester, Inc.

   New York    06-1217388    333-35083-11

Bell Oil Corp.

   Michigan    38-1884781    333-35083-07

PPC, Inc.

   Ohio    31-0821706    333-35083-08

Super Test Petroleum Inc.

   Michigan    38-1901439    333-35083-09

Kwik-Fil, Inc.

   New York    25-1525615    333-35083-04

Vulcan Asphalt Refining Corporation

   Delaware    23-2486891    333-35083-10

 

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ITEM 1.    BUSINESS.

 

Introduction

 

We are the leading integrated refiner and marketer of petroleum products in our primary market area, which encompasses western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. We own and operate a medium complexity 65,000 barrel per day (“bpd”) petroleum refinery in Warren, Pennsylvania where we produce a variety of products, including various grades of gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, No. 2 heating oil and asphalt. Operations are organized into two business segments: wholesale and retail. The wholesale segment is responsible for the acquisition of crude oil, petroleum refining, supplying petroleum products to the retail segment and the marketing of petroleum products to wholesale and industrial customers.

 

The retail segment sells petroleum products under the Kwik Fill®, Citgo® and Keystone® brand names at a network of Company-operated retail units and convenience and grocery items through Company-owned gasoline stations and convenience stores under the Red Apple Food Mart® and Country Fair® brand names. As of August 31, 2004, we operated 372 units, of which, 185 units are owned, 127 units are leased, and the remaining stores are operated under a management agreement. Approximately 22% of the gasoline stations within this network are branded Citgo® pursuant to a license agreement granting us the right to use Citgo’s applicable brand names, trademarks and other forms of Citgo’s identification. For the year ended August 31, 2004 (sometimes referred to as “fiscal 2004”), approximately 81% and 19% of our gasoline and distillate production, respectively, was sold through our retail network.

 

For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2004, we had total net sales of $1.5 billion, of which approximately 54% were derived from gasoline sales, approximately 34% were from sales of other petroleum products and 12% were from sales of merchandise and other revenue. Our capacity utilization rates have ranged from approximately 90% to approximately 100% over the last five years.

 

We believe that the location of our 65,000 bpd refinery in Warren, Pennsylvania provides us with a transportation cost advantage over our competitors, which is significant within an approximately 100-mile radius of our refinery. For example, in Buffalo, New York over our last five fiscal years, we have experienced approximately 1.82 cents per gallon transportation cost advantage over those competitors who are required to ship gasoline by pipeline and truck from New York Harbor sources to Buffalo. For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2004, our transportation cost advantage was approximately 1.95 cents per gallon. We own and operate the Kiantone Pipeline, a 78-mile long crude oil pipeline which connects the refinery to Canadian, U.S. and world crude oil sources through the Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and affiliates (collectively, “Enbridge”) pipeline system. Utilizing the storage capability of the pipeline, we are able to blend various grades of crude oil from different suppliers, allowing us to efficiently schedule production while managing feedstock mix and product yields in order to optimize profitability.

 

It is our view that the high construction costs and the stringent regulatory requirements inherent in petroleum refinery operations make it uneconomical for new competing refineries to be constructed in our primary market area. The nearest fuels refinery is over 160 miles from Warren, Pennsylvania and we believe that no significant production from such refinery is currently shipped into our primary market area.

 

Our primary market area is western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania and our core market area encompasses our Warren County base and the eight contiguous counties in New York and Pennsylvania. Our retail gasoline and merchandise sales are split approximately 59% / 41% between rural and urban markets. Margins on gasoline sales are traditionally higher in rural markets, while gasoline sales volume is greater in urban markets. Our urban markets include Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, New York and Erie, Pennsylvania.

 

As of August 31, 2004, 175 of our retail units were located in New York, 184 in Pennsylvania and 13 in Ohio. In fiscal year 2004, approximately 81% of the refinery’s gasoline production was sold through our retail network. In addition to gasoline, all units sell convenience merchandise, 103 are QSRs including franchise

 

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operations and seven of the units are full-service truck stops. Customers may pay for purchases with credit cards including our own Kwik Fill® credit card. In addition to this credit card, we maintain a fleet credit card catering to regional truck and automobile fleets. Sales of convenience products, which tend to have constant margins throughout the year, have served to reduce the effects of the seasonality inherent in gasoline retail margins.

 

We intend to commence our delayed Coker and related infrastructure project in the first quarter of 2005, at which time we plan to raise the necessary financing and commence construction. We expect an approximate three-year construction and start-up period, with commercial operations commencing in the first quarter of 2008.

 

A delayed Coker converts the heaviest portion of crude oil that would otherwise produce asphalt or residual fuel oil into lighter material which can be blended into higher priced gasoline and distillate. This will allow us to take advantage of significant discounts for heavy grades of crude oil versus lighter grades by purchasing a higher percentage of these discounted heavy grades without uneconomically increasing our asphalt production or decreasing our gasoline and distillate production.

 

We anticipate that this project will be financed through a newly formed project company by way of a combination of senior tax-exempt debt, subordinated debt, and/or equity totaling approximately $400 million to $450 million. This project company will own the delayed Coker and related infrastructure and lease them to us on a fully net basis. The availability of future borrowings and access to the capital markets for equity financing for this project depends on prevailing market conditions and the acceptability of financing terms offered to us. There can be no assurance that future borrowings or equity financing will be available to us, or available on acceptable terms, in amounts sufficient to fund the needs of the delayed Coker and related infrastructure project.

 

In connection with this project, we are currently negotiating with Canadian crude oil suppliers to provide a long-term crude oil supply agreement, contribute equity or subordinated debt, and provide a floor on the differential between light and heavy crude oil. We expect this project to position us to be able to process a heavier sour crude slate and thereby maximize the benefit of a favorable light/heavy crude differential.

 

On October 8, 2003, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) issued air and water permits to us at our Warren, Pennsylvania Refinery authorizing the construction and operation of a delayed coker unit among other refinery upgrades. The Coker and other improvements, if financed and constructed, will allow the refinery to process a 100% heavy, sour crude slate, increase crude oil throughput to 70,000 bpd and will allow it to meet new low sulfur fuel requirements.

 

As used herein, the term “The Company” refers to United Refining Company together with its consolidated subsidiaries.

 

Recent Developments

 

The annual shut down of the refinery’s reformer unit was completed in November 2004 to regenerate the reformer catalyst. The reformer unit was shut down for 9 days from November 2 to November 11. We also decided to shut down the crude unit for minor maintenance during the period of the reformer unit shutdown, at which time crude oil throughput would have been otherwise restricted. The crude unit was shut down for 5 days from November 3 to November 8. The crude unit maintenance enables us to defer the crude units major turnaround from October 2005 to October 2006.

 

On August 6, 2004, we completed a private placement offering of $200,000,000 in Senior Notes due 2012 which bear an interest rate of 10.5%. The notes were issued at 98.671% of par to yield 10 3/4% to maturity, resulting in a debt discount of $2,658,000, which will be amortized over the life of the notes using the interest method. The net proceeds of the offering of $191,600,000 were used to retire all of our outstanding 10 3/4% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2007, Series B, pay accrued interest of $3,700,000 and a redemption premium related thereto and to pay a dividend of $5,000,000 to the Company’s stockholder. A loss of $6,770,000 on the early extinguishment of debt was recorded consisting of a redemption premium of $3,228,000, a write-off of

 

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deferred financing costs of $1,990,000 and additional interest paid of $1,552,000. Such notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by all of the Company’s subsidiaries (see Notes 9 and 17 to Consolidated Financial Statements, Item 8). The notes will be eligible for resale under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933.

 

Industry Overview

 

We are a regional refiner and marketer located primarily in PADD I. As of January 1, 2004, there were 16 operable refineries operating in PADD I with a combined crude processing capacity of 1.7 million bpd, representing approximately 10% of U.S. refining capacity. Petroleum product consumption during calendar year 2003 in PADD I averaged 6.25 million bpd, representing approximately 31% of U.S. demand based on industry statistics reported by the EIA. According to the EIA, prime supplier sales volume of gasoline in the region grew by approximately 7.7% during the five-year period ending December 2003. Refined petroleum production in PADD I is insufficient to satisfy demand for such products in the region, making PADD I a net importer of such products.

 

We believe that domestic refining capacity utilization is close to maximum sustainable limits because of the existing high throughput coupled with a minimal change in refining capacity. We believe that high utilization rates coupled with little anticipated crude capacity expansion is likely to result in sustainable current operating margins in the refining industry over the long term.

 

Asphalt is a residual product of the crude oil refining process, which is used primarily for construction and maintenance of roads and highways and as a component of roofing shingles. Distribution of asphalt is localized, usually within a distance of 150 miles from a refinery or terminal, and demand is influenced by levels of federal, state, and local government funding for highway construction and maintenance and by levels of roofing construction activities. We believe that an ongoing need for highway maintenance and domestic economic growth will sustain asphalt demand.

 

Refining Operations

 

Our refinery is located on a 92-acre site in Warren, Pennsylvania. The refinery has a nominal capacity of 65,000 bpd of crude oil processing and averaged saleable production of approximately 65,200 bpd during fiscal 2004.

 

The West End of the refinery consisting of the FCC Unit, polymerization unit, alkylation unit and sulfur recovery unit-2 was shut down April 4, 2004 for a scheduled 26-day turnaround. The FCC had been on-stream for 41 months between turnarounds.

 

The major activity in addition to normal shutdown maintenance was the replacement of FCC regenerator cyclones and expansion joints which were original equipment having functioned for 23 years. Metallurgical testing during prior turnarounds enabled us to extend the useful life of this equipment beyond a normal life expectancy of 15 years. For more on the scheduled maintenance turnaround, see “Refining Operations—Refinery Turnarounds.”

 

We believe our geographic location in the product short PADD I is a significant marketing advantage. Our refinery is located in northwestern Pennsylvania and is geographically distant from the majority of PADD I refining capacity. The nearest fuels refinery is over 160 miles from Warren, Pennsylvania and we believe that no significant production from such refinery is currently shipped into our primary market area (see Note 16 to Consolidated Financial Statements, Item 8).

 

Products

 

We produce three primary petroleum products: gasoline, middle distillates, and asphalt. We presently produce two grades of unleaded gasoline, 87-octane regular and 93-octane premium. We also blend our 87 and

 

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93 octane gasoline to produce a mid-grade 89-octane. In fiscal year 2004, approximately 81% of our gasoline production was sold through our retail network and the remaining 19% of such production was sold to wholesale customers.

 

Middle distillates include kerosene, diesel fuel, and heating oil (No. 2 oil). For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2004, approximately 81% of our distillate production was sold to wholesale customers and the remaining 19% through our retail network.

 

We optimize our bottom of the barrel processing by producing asphalt, a higher value alternative to residual fuel oil. Asphalt production as a percentage of all refinery production has exceeded 22% over the last five fiscal years due to our ability and decision to process a larger amount of less costly heavy higher sulfur content crude oil in order to realize higher overall refining margins.

 

Refining Process

 

Our production of petroleum products from crude oil involves many complex steps, which are briefly summarized below.

 

We seek to maximize refinery profitability by selecting crude oil and other feedstocks taking into account factors including product demand and pricing in our market areas as well as price, quality and availability of various grades of crude oil. We also consider product inventory levels and any planned turnarounds of refinery units for maintenance. The combination of these factors is optimized by a sophisticated proprietary linear programming computer model, which selects the most profitable feedstock and product mix. The linear programming model is continuously updated and improved to reflect changes in the product market place and in the refinery’s processing capability.

 

Blended crude is stored in a tank farm near the refinery, which has a capacity of approximately 200,000 barrels. The blended crude is then brought into the refinery where it is first distilled at low pressure into its component streams in the crude and preflash unit. This yields the following intermediate products: light products consisting of fuel gas components (methane and ethane) and LPG (propane and butane), naphtha or gasoline, kerosene, diesel or heating oil, heavy atmospheric distillate, and crude tower bottoms which are further distilled under vacuum conditions to yield light and heavy vacuum distillates and asphalt. The present capacity of the crude unit is 65,000 bpd.

 

The intermediate products are then processed in downstream units that are blended to produce finished products. A naphtha hydrotreater treats naphtha with hydrogen across a fixed bed catalyst to remove sulfur before further treatment. The treated naphtha is then distilled into light and heavy naphtha at a prefractionator. Light naphtha is then sent to an isomerization unit and heavy naphtha is sent to a reformer in each case for octane enhancement. The isomerization unit converts the light naphtha catalytically into a gasoline component with 83 octane. The reformer unit converts the heavy naphtha into another gasoline component with up to 94 octane depending upon the desired octane requirement for the grade of gasoline to be produced. The reformer also produces as a co-product all the hydrogen needed to operate hydrotreating units in the refinery.

 

Raw kerosene or heating oil is treated with hydrogen at a distillate hydrotreater to remove sulfur and make finished kerosene and No. 2 fuel oil. A distillate hydrotreater built in 1993 also treats raw distillates to produce low sulfur diesel fuel.

 

The long molecular chains of the heavy atmospheric and vacuum distillates are broken or “cracked” in the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit and separated and recovered in the gas concentration unit to produce fuel gas, propylene, butylene, LPG, gasoline, light cycle oil and clarified oil. Fuel gas is burned within the refinery, propylene is fed to a polymerization unit which polymerizes its molecules into a larger chain to produce an 87 octane gasoline component, butylene is fed into an alkylation unit to produce a gasoline component and LPG is

 

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treated to remove trace quantities of water and then sold. Clarified oil is burned in the refinery or sold. Various refinery gasoline components are blended together in refinery tankage to produce 87 octane and 93 octane finished gasoline. Likewise, light cycle oil is blended with other distillates to produce low sulfur diesel and No. 2 fuel oil. A portion of the FCC gasoline is hydrotreated in order to meet new more stringent legally mandated limits on gasoline sulfur content which took effect January 1, 2004.

 

Our refining configuration allows the processing of a wide variety of crude oil inputs. During the past five years our inputs have been of Canadian origin and range from light low sulfur (38 degrees API, 0.5% sulfur) to high sulfur heavy asphaltic (21 degrees API, 3.5% sulfur). Our ability to market asphalt on a year round basis enables us to purchase selected heavier crude oils at higher differentials and thus at a lower cost.

 

Supply of Crude Oil

 

Even though our crude supply is currently nearly all Canadian, it is not dependent on this source alone. Within 90 days, we could shift up to 80% of our crude oil requirements to some combination of domestic and offshore crude. With additional time, 100% of our crude requirements could be obtained from non-Canadian sources. 86% of our contracts with our crude suppliers are on a month-to-month evergreen basis, with 60-to-90 day cancellation provisions; 14% of our crude contracts are on an annual basis (with month to month pricing provisions). As of August 31, 2004, we had supply contracts with approximately 30 different suppliers for an aggregate of 58,000 bpd of crude oil. We have contracts with four vendors amounting to 69% of daily crude oil supply (none more than 16,000 barrels per day). None of the remaining suppliers accounted for more than 10% of our crude oil supply.

 

We access crude through the Kiantone Pipeline, which connects with the Enbridge pipeline system in West Seneca, New York, which is near Buffalo. The Enbridge pipeline system provides access to most North American and foreign crude oils through three primary routes: (i) Canadian crude oils are transported eastward from Alberta and other points in Canada; (ii) various mid-continent crude oils from Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas are transported northeast along the Ozark, Woodpat and Chicap Pipelines (foreign crude oils shipped on the Seaway system can also access this route), which connects to the Enbridge pipeline system at Mokena, Illinois; and (iii) foreign crude oils unloaded at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port are transported north via the Capline and Chicap pipelines which connect to the Enbridge pipeline system at Mokena, Illinois.

 

The Kiantone Pipeline, a 78-mile Company-owned and operated pipeline, connects our West Seneca, New York terminal at the pipeline’s northern terminus to the refinery’s tank farm at its southern terminus. We completed construction of the Kiantone Pipeline in 1971 and have operated it continuously since then. We are the sole shipper on the Kiantone Pipeline, and can currently transport up to 70,000 bpd along the pipeline. Our right to maintain the pipeline is derived from approximately 265 separate easements, right-of-way agreements, licenses, permits, leases and similar agreements.

 

The pipeline operation is monitored by a computer at the refinery. Shipments of crude arriving at the West Seneca terminal are separated and stored in one of the terminal’s three storage tanks, which have an aggregate storage capacity of 485,000 barrels. The refinery tank farm has two additional crude storage tanks with a total capacity of 200,000 barrels. An additional 35,000 barrels of crude can be stored at the refinery.

 

Refinery Turnarounds

 

Turnaround cycles vary for different refinery units. A planned turnaround of each of the two major refinery units (the crude unit and the fluid catalytic cracking unit) is conducted approximately every three to five years, during which time such units are shut down for internal inspection and repair. The most recent turnarounds occurred in October and November 2002 at our crude unit and its related processing equipment and in April 2004, at our FCC unit and its related processing equipment. A turnaround, which generally takes two to four weeks to complete in the case of the two major refinery units, consists of a series of moderate to extensive

 

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maintenance exercises. Turnarounds are planned and accomplished in a manner that allows for reduced production during maintenance instead of a complete plant shutdown. We defer the cost of turnarounds when incurred and amortized on a straight-line basis over the period of benefit, which ranges from 3 to 10 years. Thus, we charge costs to production over the period most clearly benefited by the turnarounds.

 

The scheduled maintenance turnarounds during late October and early November 2002 and during April 2004 resulted in an inventory build-up (starting in August 2002 and February 2004, respectively) of petroleum products to meet minimum sales demand during the maintenance shutdown periods.

 

Marketing and Distribution

 

General

 

We have a long history of service within our market area. Our first retail service station was established in 1927 near the Warren refinery, and we have steadily expanded our distribution network over the years.

 

We maintain an approximate 59% / 41% split between sales at our rural and urban units. We believe this to be advantageous, balancing the higher gross margins and lower volumes often achievable due to decreased competition in rural areas with higher volumes and lower gross margins in urban areas. We believe that our network of rural convenience store units provide an important alternative to traditional grocery store formats. In fiscal year 2004, approximately 81% and 19% of our gasoline and distillate production, respectively, was sold through this retail network.

 

We also have a 50% interest in a joint venture with an unrelated entity for the marketing of asphalt products. This joint venture is accounted for using the equity method of accounting.

 

Retail Operations

 

As of August 31, 2004, we operated a retail-marketing network (including those stores operated under a management agreement) that includes 372 retail units, of which 175 are located in western New York, 184 in northwestern Pennsylvania and 13 in eastern Ohio. We own 185 of these units. The retail segment sells petroleum products under the Kwik Fill®, Citgo® and Keystone® brand names and grocery items under the Red Apple Food Mart® and Country Fair® brand names. We believe that Red Apple Food Mart®, Kwik Fill®, Country Fair®, Keystone® and Citgo® are well-recognized names in our marketing areas. Approximately 22% of the gasoline stations within this network are branded Citgo® pursuant to a license agreement granting us the right to use Citgo’s applicable brand names, trademarks and other forms of Citgo’s identification. We believe that the operation of our retail units provides us with a significant advantage over competitors that operate wholly or partly through dealer arrangements because we have greater control over pricing and operating expenses.

 

We classify our retail stores into four categories: convenience stores, limited gasoline stations, truck stop facilities, and other stores. Convenience stores sell a wide variety of foods, snacks, cigarettes, and beverages and also provide self-service gasoline. One hundred and three of our 372 retail outlets include QSRs where food is prepared on the premises for retail sales and also distribution to our other nearby units which do not have in-store delicatessens. Limited gasoline stations sell gasoline, cigarettes, oil and related car care products and provide full service for gasoline customers. Truckstop facilities sell gasoline and diesel fuel on a self-service and full-service basis. All truckstops include either a full or mini convenience store.

 

Total merchandise sales for fiscal year 2004 were $180.7 million, with a gross profit of approximately $51.7 million. Gross margins on the sale of convenience merchandise averaged 28.6% for fiscal 2004 and have been between 25% and 28.6% for the last five years, (see Note 16 to Consolidated Financial Statements, Item 8). In our experience, these sales are essentially unaffected by variations in crude oil and petroleum products prices.

 

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Merchandise Supply

 

Our primary merchandise vendor is Tripifoods, which is located in Buffalo, New York. During fiscal year 2004, we purchased approximately 87% of our convenience merchandise from this vendor. Tripifoods supplies us with tobacco products, candy, deli foods, grocery, health and beauty products, and sundry items on a cost plus basis for resale. We also purchase coffee, dairy products, beer, soda, snacks, and novelty goods from direct store vendors for resale. We annually review our suppliers’ costs and services versus those of alternate suppliers. We believe that alternative sources of merchandise supply at competitive prices are readily available.

 

Location Performance Tracking

 

We maintain a store tracking mechanism to collect operating data including sales and inventory levels for our retail network. Data transmissions are made using personal computers, which are available at each location. Once verified, the data interfaces with a variety of retail accounting systems, which support daily, weekly, and monthly performance reports. These different reports are then provided to both the field management and administrative personnel. Upon completion of a capital project, management tracks “before and after” performance, to evaluate the return on investment which has resulted from the improvements.

 

Wholesale Marketing and Distribution

 

We sold in fiscal year 2004, on a wholesale basis, approximately 48,200 bpd of gasoline, distillate and asphalt products to distributor, commercial, and government accounts. In addition, we sell approximately 1,000 bpd of propane to liquefied petroleum gas marketers. In fiscal year 2004, our production of gasoline, distillate, and asphalt sold at wholesale was 19%, 81%, and 100%, respectively. We sell approximately 98% of our wholesale gasoline and distillate products from our refinery in Warren, PA, and our Company-owned and operated product terminals. The remaining 2% are sold through third-party exchange terminals.

 

Our wholesale gasoline customer base includes 54 branded dealer/distributor units operating under our proprietary “Keystone®” (including one Company-operated location) and “Kwik Fill®” brand names. Long-term dealer/distributor contracts accounted for approximately 19% of our wholesale gasoline sales in fiscal 2004. Supply contracts generally range from three to five years in length, with branded prices based on our prevailing wholesale rack price in Warren.

 

We believe that the location of our refinery provides us with a transportation cost advantage over our competitors, which is significant within an approximately 100-mile radius of our refinery. For example, in Buffalo, New York over our last five fiscal years, we have experienced an approximately 1.82 cents per gallon transportation cost advantage over those competitors who are required to ship gasoline by pipeline and truck from New York Harbor sources to Buffalo. For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2004, our transportation cost advantage was approximately 1.95 cents per gallon. In addition to this transportation cost advantage, our proximity to local accounts allows it a greater range of shipment options, including the ability to deliver truckload quantities of approximately 210 barrels versus much larger 10,000 barrel pipeline batch deliveries, and faster response time, which we believe helps us provide enhanced service to our customers.

 

Our ability to market asphalt is critical to the performance of our refinery, since such marketing ability enables us to process lower cost higher sulfur content crude oils which in turn affords us higher refining margins. Sales of paving asphalt generally occur during the summer months (May 31 to October 31) due primarily to weather conditions. In order to maximize our asphalt sales, we have made substantial investments to increase our asphalt storage capacity through the installation of additional tanks, as well as through the purchase or lease of outside terminals. Partially mitigating the seasonality of the asphalt paving business is our ability to sell asphalt year-round to roofing shingle manufacturers. In fiscal year 2004, we sold 7.7 million barrels of asphalt while producing 6.4 million barrels. This difference is primarily attributed to us purchasing product for resale.

 

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We have a significant share of the asphalt market in the cities of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Rochester and Buffalo, New York. We distribute asphalt from the refinery by railcar and truck transport to our owned and leased asphalt terminals in such cities or their suburbs. Asphalt can be purchased in the Gulf Coast area and delivered by barge to third party or Company-owned terminals near Pittsburgh.

 

We also have a 50% interest in a joint venture with an entity for the marketing of asphalt products. This joint venture is accounted for using the equity method of accounting.

 

We use a network of six terminals to store and distribute refined products. This network provides gasoline, distillate, and asphalt storage capacities of approximately 505,000, 770,000 and 1,750,000 barrels, respectively, as of August 31, 2004.

 

During fiscal 2004, approximately 93% of our refined products were transported from the refinery via truck transports, with the remaining 7% transported by rail. The majority of our wholesale and retail gasoline distribution is handled by common carrier trucking companies at competitive costs. We also operate a fleet of ten tank trucks that supply approximately 25% of our Kwik Fill® retail stations.

 

Product distribution costs to both retail and wholesale accounts are minimized through product exchanges. Through these exchanges, we have access to product supplies at approximately 31 sources located throughout our retail marketing area. We seek to minimize retail distribution costs through the use of a system wide distribution model.

 

Environmental Considerations

 

General

 

We are subject to extensive federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to pollution and protection of the environment such as those governing releases of certain materials into the environment and the storage, treatment, transportation, disposal and clean-up of wastes, including, but not limited to, the Federal Clean Water Act as amended, the Clean Air Act as amended (“CAA”), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 as amended, the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 as amended (“CERCLA”), and analogous state and local laws and regulations. As with the industry in general, compliance with existing and anticipated environmental laws and regulations increases the overall cost of business, including capital costs to construct, maintain and upgrade equipment and facilities.

 

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990

 

In 1990, the CAA was amended to greatly expand the role of the government in controlling product quality and air emissions. The legislation included provisions that have significantly impacted the manufacture of both gasoline and diesel fuel including the requirement for significantly lower sulfur content. In regards to emissions, the government has required increasingly stringent emission controls on process equipment. For example, we will need to comply with the second phase of regulations effective April 2005, establishing Maximum Achievable Control Technologies for petroleum refineries. These regulations, which became effective in April 2002, may require additional emission controls on certain refinery units.

 

Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Sulfur Content

 

In February 2000, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”) issued a final rule requiring a phased reduction of the sulfur content in gasoline to ultimately achieve 30 Parts Per Million (“PPM”). Many refiners had to make this reduction beginning in January 2004, but some smaller refiners and those in certain Western states will be allowed to phase down sulfur more slowly, reaching the 30 PPM level as late as January 2008. Although we are of comparable size to some of the small refiners granted more time to comply, we

 

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were not classified as a small refiner for this purpose, nor are our operations located in any of the Western states given additional time. However, the rule allows individual refiners to seek additional time to comply on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the USEPA. We applied for and were granted additional time to phase down the sulfur content of gasoline. USEPA granted this relief in the form of a three-phase compliance approach giving us until January 2008 to meet the 30 PPM sulfur limit. We made the initial required sulfur reduction on January 1, 2004 by modifying the refinery kerosene hydrotreater to allow it to hydrotreat gasoline as well as kerosene.

 

The USEPA promulgated another set of regulations under the CAA in January 2001 that limits allowable sulfur content in highway diesel fuel. By June 1, 2006, the sulfur content in highway diesel fuel must be reduced to 15 PPM. Furthermore, USEPA has proposed a comprehensive national program to reduce emissions from non-road diesel engines by forcing the eventual reduction of sulfur in non-road diesel to 15 PPM by 2010.

 

We anticipate that a material investment of funds will be required before 2008 to comply with the low sulfur fuel requirements for both gasoline and diesel. It is believed that compliance with the low sulfur gasoline and diesel fuel mandates will require an estimated expenditure of approximately $15 to $30 million in capital improvements.

 

Competition

 

Petroleum refining and marketing is highly competitive. Our major retail competitors include British Petroleum, Amerada Hess, Mobil, Sunoco, Sheetz, Delta Sonic, and Uni-Marts. With respect to wholesale gasoline and distillate sales, we compete with Sunoco, Inc., Mobil, and other major refiners. We primarily compete with PetroCanada and Marathon Ashland Petroleum in the asphalt market. Many of our principal competitors are integrated multinational oil companies that are substantially larger and better known than us. Because of their diversity, integration of operations, larger capitalization and greater resources, these major oil companies may be better able to withstand volatile market conditions, compete on the basis of price and more readily obtain crude oil in times of shortages.

 

The principal competitive factors affecting our refining operations are crude oil and other feedstock costs, refinery efficiency, refinery product mix and product distribution and transportation costs. Certain of our larger competitors have refineries, which are larger and more complex and, as a result, could have lower per barrel costs or higher margins per barrel of throughput. We have no crude oil reserves and are not engaged in exploration. We believe that we will be able to obtain adequate crude oil and other feedstocks at generally competitive prices for the foreseeable future.

 

The principal competitive factors affecting our retail marketing network are location of stores, product price and quality, appearance and cleanliness of stores and brand identification. Competition from large, integrated oil companies, as well as from convenience stores which sell motor fuel, is expected to continue. The principal competitive factors affecting our wholesale marketing business are quality and price of our products, reliability and availability of supply and location of distribution points.

 

Employees

 

As of August 31, 2004, we had approximately 4,173 employees; 1,961 full-time and 2,212 part-time employees. Approximately 3,536 persons were employed at our retail units, 397 persons at our refinery, Kiantone Pipeline and at terminals operated by us, with the remainder at our office in Warren, Pennsylvania. We have entered into collective bargaining agreements with International Union of Operating Engineers Local No. 95, United Steel Workers of America Local No. 2122-A, the International Union of Plant Guard Workers of America Local No. 502 and General Teamsters Local Union No. 397 covering 215, 9, 23 and 20 employees, respectively. The agreements expire on February 1, 2006, January 31, 2006, June 25, 2005 and July 31, 2005, respectively. We believe that our relationship with our employees is good.

 

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Intellectual Property

 

We own various federal and state service and trademarks used by us, including Kwik Fill®, United®, Country Fair®, SuperKwik®, Keystone®, SubFare® and PizzaFare®. Our subsidiary, Country Fair, along with us, have licensing agreements with Citgo Petroleum Corporation (“Citgo”) for the right to use Citgo’s applicable brand names, trademarks and other forms of Citgo’s identification for petroleum products purchased under a distributor franchise agreement.

 

We have obtained the right to use the Red Apple Food Mart® service mark to identify our retail units under a royalty-free, nonexclusive, nontransferable license from Red Apple Supermarkets, Inc., a corporation which is indirectly wholly owned by John A. Catsimatidis, the indirect sole stockholder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. The license is for an indefinite term. The licensor has the right to terminate this license in the event that we fail to maintain quality acceptable to the licensor. We license the right to use the Keystone® trademark to approximately 54 independent distributors on a non-exclusive royalty-free basis.

 

We currently do not own any material patents. Management believes that it does not infringe upon the patent rights of others, nor does our lack of patent ownership impact our business in any material manner.

 

Governmental Approvals

 

We believe we have obtained all necessary governmental approvals, licenses, and permits to operate the refinery and convenience stores.

 

Financing

 

On August 6, 2004, we completed a private placement offering of $200,000,000 in Senior Notes due 2012 which bear an interest rate of 10.5%. The notes were issued at 98.671% of par to yield 10 3/4% to maturity, resulting in a debt discount of $2,658,000, which will be amortized over the life of the notes using the interest method. The net proceeds of the offering of $191,600,000 were used to retire all of our outstanding 10 3/4% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2007, Series B, pay accrued interest of $3,700,000 and a redemption premium related thereto and to pay a dividend of $5,000,000 to the Company’s stockholder. A loss of $6,770,000 on the early extinguishment of debt was recorded consisting of a redemption premium of $3,228,000, a write-off of deferred financing costs of $1,990,000 and additional interest paid of $1,552,000. Such notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by all of the Company’s subsidiaries (see Notes 9 and 17 to Consolidated Financial Statements, Item 8). The notes will be eligible for resale under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933.

 

Effective January 27, 2004, the Company amended its secured credit facility to increase the maximum facility commitment from $50,000,000 to $75,000,000 on a permanent basis. The facility expires on May 9, 2007 and is secured by certain cash accounts, accounts receivable, and inventory. Until maturity, the Company may borrow on a borrowing base formula as set forth in the facility. For Base Rate borrowings, interest is calculated at the greater of the Agent Bank’s prime rate or federal fund rate plus 1%, plus an applicable margin of .25% to .75%, which was 5.00% at August 31, 2004. For Euro-Rate borrowings, interest is calculated at the LIBOR rate plus an applicable margin of 1.75% to 3.00%. The applicable margin varies with the Company’s facility leverage ratio calculation. As of August 31, 2004, $0 of Euro-Rate borrowings and $13,000,000 of Base Rate borrowings were outstanding under the agreement. The Company pays a commitment fee of 3/8% per annum on the unused balance of the facility.

 

We had outstanding letters of credit of $385,000 as of August 31, 2004.

 

As of August 31, 2004 the outstanding borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility was $13,385,000 resulting in net availability of $61,615,000. The corresponding balance of cash and cash equivalents as of August 31, 2004 was $11,552,000.

 

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ITEM 2.    PROPERTIES.

 

We own a 92-acre site in Warren, Pennsylvania upon which we operate our refinery. The site also contains an office building housing our principal executive office.

 

We own various real property in the states of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Alabama as of August 31, 2004, upon which we operate 185 retail units and two crude oil and six refined product storage terminals. We also own the 78-mile long Kiantone Pipeline, a pipeline which connects our crude oil storage terminal to the refinery’s tank farm. Our right to maintain the pipeline is derived from approximately 265 separate easements, right-of-way agreements, leases, permits, and similar agreements. We also have easements, right-of-way agreements, leases, permits, and similar agreements that would enable us to build a second pipeline on property contiguous to the Kiantone Pipeline.

 

We also lease an aggregate of 127 sites in Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio upon which we operate retail units. As of August 31, 2004, 66 of these leases had an average remaining term of 52 months, exclusive of option terms, and 61 leased Country Fair locations had terms from 10 to 20 years remaining.

 

ITEM 3.    LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

 

The Company and its subsidiaries are from time to time parties to various legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of their respective business operations. These proceedings include various administrative actions relating to federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations as well as civil matters before various courts seeking money damages. The Company believes that if these legal proceedings in which it is currently involved were determined against the Company, there would be no Company’s operations or its consolidated financial condition. In the opinion of management, all such matters are adequately covered by insurance, or if not so covered, are without merit or are of such kind, or involve such amounts that an unfavorable disposition would not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated operations or financial position of the Company.

 

ITEM 4.    SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS.

 

NONE

 

ITEM 5.    MARKET   FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS.

 

NONE

 

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ITEM 6.    SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.

 

The following table sets forth certain historical financial and operating data (the “Selected Information”) as of the end of and for each of the years in the five-year period ended August 31, 2004. The selected income statement, balance sheet, financial and ratio data as of and for each of the five years ended August 31, 2004 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. The operating information for all periods presented has been derived from our accounting and financial records. The Selected Information set forth below should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified by reference to, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Item 7 and our Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Item 8 and other financial information included elsewhere herein.

 

    Year Ended August 31,

 
    2000

    2001

    2002

    2003

    2004

 
    (dollars in thousands)  

Income Statement Data:

                                       

Net sales(2)

  $ 1,123,439     $ 1,108,565     $ 1,052,016     $ 1,290,351     $ 1,488,937  

Gross margin(1)(2)

    200,379       216,701       163,192       231,435       277,716  

Refining operating expenses(3)

    70,812       90,271       77,821       99,666       104,938  

Selling, general and administrative
expenses(4)

    80,390       73,234       94,297       106,427       111,808  

Operating income (loss)(2)

    39,009       42,483       (20,700 )     13,123       48,517  

Interest expense

    22,962       21,051       20,064       21,376       21,445  

Interest income

    288       1,606       330       36       22  

Other, net(2)

    (2,822 )     1,836       (1,345 )     (1,291 )     (2,201 )

Costs associated with terminated
acquisition

    —         (1,300 )     —         —         —    

Equity in net earnings of affiliate

    —         516       1,242       867       672  

Gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt(5)

    —         5,210       —         —         (6,770 )

Income (loss) before income tax expense (benefit)

    13,513       29,300       (40,537 )     (8,641 )     18,795  

Income tax expense (benefit)

    6,828       12,021       (15,596 )     (3,370 )     7,400  

Net Income (loss)

    6,685       17,279       (24,941 )     (5,271 )     11,395  

Balance Sheet Data (at end of period):

                                       

Total assets

    340,368       355,557       371,440       361,428       366,382  

Total debt

    201,111       181,100       206,413       214,410       212,948  

Total stockholder’s equity

    55,106       75,966       48,196       41,975       47,106  

(1)   Gross margin is defined as gross profit plus refining operating expenses. Refinery operating expenses are expenses incurred in refining and included in costs of goods sold in our consolidated financial statements. Refining operating expense equals refining operating expenses per barrel, multiplied by the volume of total saleable products per day, multiplied by the number of days in the period. </