Another research note reports strong retail fuel margins for January

  • Another research note reports strong retail fuel margins for January

    In early February I wrote a blog entry about how retail fuel margins in January 2014 were stronger than in January 2013. I based this conclusion using weekly OPIS reports from this year and last. You can find that blog entry here.

    On February 20, Samantha Oller, Sr. Editor of CSPNet.com, wrote an article about a similar conclusion. Her article Fuel Margins Hit 7-Year High for January uses a research note by Raymond James & Associates. The research note shows that retail fuel margins in January 2014 averaged 18.5 cents per gallon (CPG) for regular unleaded, a 39% improvement year over year.

    The OPIS weekly retail margin report uses a different approach than Raymond James & Associates. The Raymond James & Associates research is based solely on a survey of a select group of c-store chains and fuel distributors: Casey’s General Stores, CST Brands Inc., Murphy USA Inc., The Pantry Inc., Susser Holdings Corp., TravelCenters of America, Susser Petroleum and LeHigh Gas Partners. The other significant difference between the two reports is that OPIS reports the overall average of all fuels on a weekly basis, while Raymond James & Associates focuses only on regular unleaded and for the entire month of January.

    Whether you use the Raymond James & Associates research, or the OPIS weekly reports as a baseline, this information is a good cross check comparison for your January margins.

     

     

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