by John Keller | May 20, 2011 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Optimization
The American Petroleum Institute issued a monthly report today. Gasoline deliveries, a measure of gasoline demand, dropped by 2.2 percent compared with last year. Deliveries totaled 8.9 million barrels per day.
Rising retail gasoline prices seem to have crimped consumer demand for motor gasoline in April. Gasoline prices were up by 6.6 percent in April from March, a gain of 24 cents per gallon.
Gasoline production fell for the first time in 2011, down 3.1 percent to 8.8 million barrels per day. This level was still the second highest for gasoline for any April in the past 10 years and the highest on a year-to-date basis.
As Fuel Price Management reviews their fuel volume sales and market share for April 2011, they must keep in mind the potential for an overall decrease in total volume sales for each of their markets.
by John Keller | May 17, 2011 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Technology
A computer glitch was to blame for a Valero convenience store selling premium fuel at $1.10 a gallon over a four hour period on May 15. The owner reported that was over $3 a gallon less than the proper price, and cost him $21,000. Roughly 7000 gallons of premium fuel were sold at that price, and police had to be called in to control the long line of traffic.
According to the Los Angeles c-store owner, the fuel price change didn’t work properly, causing the POS system to set the price to the default of $1.10 per gallon. The attendant on duty at the time was too busy staffing the convenience store and Point Of Sale system to notice the problem.
From a Fuel Price Management lesson-learned perspective, this story highlights the risk of fuel price changes going awry. Without the proper Fuel Pricing Software solution, including the critical Fuel Price Management phases of Change and Confirm, every c-store is at risk of losses like this.
The source of this article may be found here.
by John Keller | May 13, 2011 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Price Optimization, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
There’s a great MSNBC news article out today discussing the role of the US Federal Government in helping fuel prices trend downward. The key takeaway for the Fuel Price Manager is that fuel prices are going to continue their downward trend of recent days. From a Fuel Price Management perspective, that means it’s a critical moment to invest in fuel pricing solutions that allow the continued monitoring of wholesale costs, and the competitor fuel price reaction. As cost drops, now is the time to increase retail fuel profits, while carefully managing the gradual fuel price decreases that the consumer expects.
News agencies are making it common public knowledge that retail fuel prices are quick to rise when wholesale costs increase, and slow to drop when wholesale costs decrease. But these agencies are setting customer expectations for retail fuel prices to drop over the coming months. That means people will be looking for price decreases, and will be quick to jump on them with a fill-up when they see a well-advertised price.
Here are highlights from the article:
- Oil prices have peaked and appear to be coming down.
- After flooding the financial system with cash for more than two years in an effort to stabilize financial markets and economy, the Fed is getting ready to turn off the taps. The anticipation is one reason oil prices are coming back down.
- For all of the complex forces acting on the global oil market, the dollar has a powerful sway for the very simple reason that oil is priced in dollars. The dollar has begun showing signs of strength. Just as a weaker dollar helped send oil prices surging, a stronger dollar is reining them in.
- The forces that drove prices higher seem to have reversed course. Global growth seems to be slowing. The dollar is strengthening. And the inflation threat from the Fed’s easy-money policies may be easing.
- Until the outlook for oil prices becomes clearer, expect more daily price swings that will send even the most seasoned traders looking for cover.
The full article may be found here.
by John Keller | Apr 12, 2011 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
In today’s US Energy Information Adminstration weekly fuel price report, the USEIA revealed an $.11 increase for the national average price of Unleaded Regular fuel. The US national average retail fuel price of unleaded gasoline now sits at $3.79/gallon, a gallon of midgrade rose to $3.90, and a gallon of premium rose to $4.02. That’s the first time the national average for premium fuel has been priced above $4 for years. These are the highest fuel price levels since September 2008.
The regional areas hit hardest were the Gulf Coast and the Midwest, where the average price for unleaded rose $.12 to $3.66 and $3.90/gallon respectively. The lowest increase of any region was $.07 in the Rocky Mountains, where a gallon of unleaded fuel averages $3.57.
As for individual states, Minnesota had the largest fuel price increase of the week, where prices rose $.23/gallon for unleaded, with an average price of $3.82/gallon.
The average price of Unleaded in California remained the highest in the nation, reaching $4.20/gallon. In Los Angeles and San Francisco, a gallon of Unleaded is priced the highest in any major city, at $4.23 and $4.22 per gallon.
by John Keller | Apr 4, 2011 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News
In today’s US Energy Information Adminstration weekly fuel price report, the USEIA revealed a $.09 increase for the national average price of Unleaded Regular fuel. The US national average retail fuel price of unleaded gasoline now sits at $3.68/gallon, a gallon of midgrade rose to $3.80, and a gallon of premium rose to $3.92. Fuel prices have now risen $.50 in the last six weeks, and are at their highest levels since September 2008.
The regional area hit hardest was the Midwest, where the average price for unleaded rose $.13 to $3.68/gallon. The lowest increase of any region was $.04 on the West Coast, where a gallon of unleaded fuel averages $3.95.
As for individual states, Ohio had the largest fuel price increase of the week, where prices rose $.22/gallon for unleaded, with an average price of $3.75/gallon.
The average price of Unleaded in California remained above the $4 barrier, reaching $4.05/gallon. In Los Angeles and San Francisco, a gallon of Unleaded is priced the highest in any major city, at $4.09 and $4.08 per gallon.
by John Keller | Mar 24, 2011 | Fuel Price Management, Retail Fuel Margins
The US Energy Information Administration just released their latest “This Week In Petroleum” report with updates regarding retail fuel price management. Here are the highlights.
The U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline decreased half of a cent versus last week, the first decline since January 31, 2011. At $3.56 per gallon, gasoline is $0.74 per gallon higher than last year at this time. The biggest decrease was on the Gulf Coast, where the gasoline price fell almost two cents. The gasoline average on the East Coast lost a penny on the week and the Midwest price was down just under a cent. Moving in the other direction, the West Coast average moved up about two cents. In the Rocky Mountains, the price was almost three cents higher than last week. Despite this increase, the gasoline price in the Rocky Mountains remained the lowest in the country at $3.39 per gallon. The most expensive gasoline among the major regions is on the West Coast, where the average retail price is $3.86 per gallon.
Diesel prices fell for the first time in sixteen weeks, albeit a small decrease, with the national average down just a tenth of a cent from last week. At $3.91 per gallon, the diesel price is $0.96 per gallon higher than last year at this time. Diesel prices were mixed across the country, with prices falling less than a penny on the East Coast, Gulf Coast, and in the Midwest. Prices in the Rocky Mountains were up almost four cents. The average on the West Coast was also up on the week, adding over a penny to last week’s price.
