by John Keller | Mar 7, 2011 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
In today’s US Energy Information Adminstration weekly fuel price report, the USEIA revealed another $.14 increase. The US national average retail fuel price of unleaded gasoline now sits at $3.52/gallon, a gallon of midgrade rose to $3.63, and a gallon of premium rose to $3.75.
Following last week’s price increase, fuel prices have now risen $.34 in two weeks.
The regional areas of New England and the Gulf Coast both saw the average gallon of unleaded fuel rise $.16/gallon. The lowest increase of any region was $.11 in the Rocky Mountains, which continues to have the lowest fuel prices in the nation, where a gallon of unleaded is $3.29.
As for individual states, Texas had the largest fuel price increase of the week, where prices rose $.17/gallon for unleaded, with an average price of $3.40/gallon.
In Los Angeles and San Francisco, a gallon of Unleaded is priced at $3.89 and $3.91 per gallon. Premium is priced above $4.00 in both cities, at $4.09 and $4.11/gallon.
by John Keller | Mar 2, 2011 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News
In the weekly “Today in Energy” report released March 1, 2011 by the US Energy Information Administration, there’s a good equation explaining how much a price increase for a barrel of oil equates to a retail fuel price increase.
“Many factors affect retail gasoline prices, but changing prices for domestic and global crude oils are particularly important. Typically, a $10 per barrel change in the spot price of crude oil translates into about a 24 cent per gallon change in the retail price of gasoline within about two months. About half of that price change usually occurs within the first two weeks of the crude oil price change. From the beginning of 2011 through February 18 – just before the Libyan crisis began – the spot price of Brent crude oil increased about $9 per barrel from $93 per barrel to $102 per barrel. Since then, the price of Brent crude oil has increased by a further $10 per barrel.”
That’s relatively consistant with what happened in the retail fuel market over the past 2 weeks, where the latter half of February 2011 saw a $10 increase in a barrel of oil equate to a $.25 retail fuel price increase.
by John Keller | Mar 2, 2011 | Retail Fuel Margins
Susser Holdings Corporation reported their retail fuel margin results for Q4 2010 and for the entire 2010 fiscal year.
Retail fuel margins for the fourth quarter were 15.0 cents per gallon, versus 22.8 cents in the third quarter and 11.9 cents in the fourth quarter of 2009. The report states that their retail fuel margins helped contribute to their 9.4 percent increase in companywide gross profit compared to last year’s fourth quarter. The Q4 gross profit for 2010 hit $112 million. Retail fuel volumes increased 4.8 percent from a year ago to 182.4 million gallons for the fourth quarter. That equates to 141,067 gallons per store per month on average. According to NACS, the average c-store sells 121,000 gallons of fuel per month annually. That means Susser stores sold about 16% more than the national monthly average.
Retail fuel margins for the entire 2010 fiscal year hit $.184 per gallon.
Sam Susser, President and CEO said “As the recovery gains momentum in 2011, we expect to see additional growth in both merchandise and fuel volumes, although we do not expect to match the unusually strong fuel margins of 2010.”
The Company added seven large format retail stores during the fourth quarter, converted three retail stores to dealer operations and closed three smaller underperforming stores, bringing the total number of retail stores in operation at year-end to 526.
For the 2011 fiscal year guidance figure, the report shows a range of $.14 – $.17 per gallon.
by John Keller | Feb 28, 2011 | Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
Retail fuel prices rose by $.20/gallon since last week, according to today’s US Energy Information Administration report. The US national average retail fuel price of unleaded gasoline spiked to $3.38/gallon, a gallon of midgrade rose to $3.49, and a gallon of premium rose to $3.62.
Fuel prices have risen 10 of the past 11 weeks, but the increase this week is four times any increases seen the previous 11 weeks. The fuel price increase this week is the largest since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, when the refinery output in the Gulf was disrupted.
The largest fuel price increases were in the Midwest, where the average gallon of unleaded gas rose 22 cents to $3.36/gallon. The smallest fuel price increases were in the Rocky Mountain region, where unleaded rose $.11 to $3.23/gallon. As for individual states, Ohio had the largest fuel price increase of the week, where prices rose $.30/gallon for unleaded, with an average price of $3.37/gallon.
In Los Angeles and San Francisco, a gallon of Unleaded is priced at $3.73 and $3.75 per gallon. In San Francisco, Premium is just short of $4.00 at $3.96/gallon.
by John Keller | Feb 21, 2011 | Retail Fuel Margins
TravelCenters of America announced in their annual report for 2010 that their retail fuel margins were 5.4%. Based on the 2011 NACS Annual Fuels Report, that equates to approximately $.16 per gallon. Retail fuel margins in 2009 were 6.4%. The last three months of 2010 had retail fuel margins at 4.7%, or approximately $.14 per gallon, essentially unchanged from the same period in 2009. According to NACS, the average c-store sold fuel at a 5.6% margin. That means TA sold in line with the national annual average for 2010.
Same site fuel volumes for the year were up 6% from 2009. The report attributes this volume increase to the effectiveness of the company’s marketing and customer service efforts, as well as increased economic activity. Fuel volumes for the final three months of 2010 were up 2.3% from the same period in 2009.
At the end of 2009, TravelCenters of America had 228 sites, five fewer than at the end of 2009. Of the 228 sites, 62 operate under the “Petro” brand.
Net losses for the year were $65m compared to a net loss of $89m in 2009. For the fourth quarter, net losses were $30m compared to $44.6m for the previous year.
