CHARLESTON – Phillips 66 pulled out of the greater Charleston market effective August 3, according to The Charleston Post and Courier.

Terry Lehman, chief operating officer of Spartanburg-based Li'l Cricket Food Stores said Phillips 66 has exited both South Carolina and North Carolina. Li'l Cricket, one of Phillips 66's largest customers, has 51 convenience stores, all in South Carolina. The next move for the chain will be to rebrand 12 upstate outlets under the Marathon name – Houston-based Marathon Oil has a fuel terminal in Belton, South Carolina.

A number of stores, including two locally, were branded under the Valero name and will stay with the San Antonio-based oil company. Other stores, including 14 in metro Charleston, eventually will sell gas under the Li'l Cricket name without a brand designation.

"Obviously, we're not real happy with the change," said Lehman, noting that the convenience store chain absorbs the cost of remodeling signs and making other changes to remove the Phillips 66 name.

Changes to the region's gasoline providers is not new.  A year earlier, Phillips Petroleum bought independent refiner and distributor Tosco Corp., which in the Charleston area owned stations at Circle K convenience stores that sold gas under the Union 76 name. In the past year, the Circle K stores were rebranded as Shell stations.