BP store owner receiving no ill effects from oil spill

Published 11:30 am Friday, July 9, 2010

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One local BP gas station is reporting no backlash from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“It hasn’t had a huge impact,” said Kevin Mosier, owner of Mt. Olive BP at the corner of Mt. Olive Road and Shady Grove Road. “Business has been a little slow, but it’s hard to tell if it’s the economy or the oil spill.”

Mosier said only a handful of customers have even commented or complained in his store about the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill, which began April 20 when the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded in the gulf, killing 11 people and injuring 17 others.

The wellhead, a mile below the surface of the water, has reportedly gushed millions of gallons of oil since the explosion. Oil and tar balls have since washed up on beaches in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

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Media reports have indicated that people have been boycotting BP stores further south because of the oil spill. Mosier said that he has heard of BP gas stations closer to the Gulf of Mexico that are suffering because their customers are abandoning them for other brands of gas.

But Mosier said the oil spill and how BP handles the cleanup effort is “out of my control” and has nothing to do with local service station owners.

Most of his customers seem to understand that.

Mosier has numerous in-house charge accounts at his store. He said that not only are his customers not canceling their accounts, but he has recently picked up new accounts from customers who are reportedly moving their business from non-American owned stores in the area.

Mosier said he appreciates his long-time customers’ loyalty.

“We’re just trying to run a clean store and be nice to people,” he said.

A spokesperson at a BP store in Gardendale, at the corner of Fieldstown Road and Mt. Olive Road, said Tuesday that the corporate office is not allowing Gardendale store employees to comment on whether the oil spill has affected the business.

Mosier’s Mt. Olive store is not corporate-owned, but is privately owned. Mosier bought the store a year and a half ago from his uncle, who owned and operated it for 15 years.