by John Keller | Jan 19, 2011 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
Fuel prices rose again for the sixth straight week, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The US national average fuel price of unleaded gasoline rose a penny to $3.08/gallon, while a gallon of midgrade rose two cents to $3.20, and a gallon of premium rose two cents to $3.33.
The largest fuel price increases were on the West Coast, where the average gallon of unleaded gas rose three cents to $3.26/gallon. The Lower Atlantic states also rose $.03/gallon to $3.05 for a gallon of unleaded.
As for individual states, Minnesota was hit with a $.06/gallon weekly increase for unleaded, with an average price of $3.09/gallon. Colorado continues to have the lowest average fuel prices in the US where a gallon of unleaded is $2.86, up three cents from last week. California again has the highest fuel prices in the country where the average price for a gallon of unleaded is $3.33, up three cents from last week. New York state has the second highest prices in the nation, where a gallon of unleaded is $3.30/gallon, up a penny from last week.
by John Keller | Jan 19, 2011 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
Fuel prices rose again for the seventh straight week, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The US national average retail fuel price of unleaded gasoline rose 1.5 cents to $3.10/gallon, while a gallon of midgrade rose two cents to $3.22, and a gallon of premium rose one cent to $3.34.
The largest fuel price increases were in the Rocky Mountain region, where the average gallon of unleaded gas rose three cents to $2.89/gallon. That region still has the lowest fuel prices in the country, one of only two regions where unleaded remains below $3.00/gallon. The other region below $3.00/gallon is the Gulf Coast, where the average price of unleaded is $2.95.
As for individual states, Colorado had the largest fuel price increase of the week at $.06/gallon for unleaded, with an average price of $2.92/gallon. That’s still the lowest price for unleaded of any state. California again has the highest fuel prices in the country where the average price for a gallon of unleaded is $3.34, up one cent from last week. New York state remains the second highest priced, where a gallon of unleaded is up three cents to $3.33/gallon.
Chicago reported the only local fuel price decrease in the country, where the price of unleaded dropped three cents from $3.31/gallon to $3.28/gallon.
by John Keller | Nov 24, 2010 | Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
When consumers hear there is an increase in oil prices, they expect to see an immediate increase in retail fuel prices. Actual fuel price management practices show the increases in retail fuel prices are often two weeks later.
In today’s This Week In Petroleum report published by the US Energy Information Administration, the US EIA documents this lag time between changes in spot fuel prices and retail fuel prices.
The spot price for a fuel commodity reflects the cost of crude oil and other inputs to refiners as well as the costs and profits of processing that crude oil into products. While retail fuel prices do follow changes in spot fuel prices, there is a consistant lag time between when spot fuel prices change and retail fuel prices change. The report shows that on a regional level, 50% of the retail fuel price change happens within two weeks of the spot fuel price change, and 80% of the retail fuel price change happens within four weeks.
The entire report can be found here.
by John Keller | Oct 19, 2010 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal quotes Xavier Mosquet, Sr. Director and Managing Partner (Detroit) of Boston Consulting Group, as saying fuel prices must be at $8 to $9 per gallon before electric cars will be cost effective for buyers. This takes into consideration the lack of US government incentives that can’t go on forever. Mr. Mosquet goes on to say that a fuel price of $4 per gallon, with current government incentives, will support electric car sales representing only 5% of the market by 2020.
So why the big push for electric vehicles from auto makers?
- US EPA credits that allow manufacturers to build more profitable luxury cars and trucks.
- California mandates that the top six car manufacturers offer a zero emission model in 2012 or pay severe fines.
As Fuel Managers peer over the horizon to see when electric vehicles should be folded into their fuel pricing strategy, a wait and see attitude may be best for the next five years so as not to get distracted from the core business.
The entire WSJ article is worth reading here.
by John Keller | Oct 12, 2010 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
In today’s US Energy Information Administration release of the latest weekly retail fuel prices, the average national price for all grades rose more than $.08 per gallon from the previous week. That’s the largest price increase in over six weeks.
The average national price of regular unleaded fuel rose from $2.73 to $2.81. Regional unleaded fuel prices ranged from a weekly increase of $.11 per gallon in the Central Atlantic states, to $.10 per gallon in New England, to $.06 per gallon on the West Coast. All regions of the country saw prices increase with the exception of the Rocky Mountains, which remained essentially unchanged at $2.79 per gallon.
Particularly hard hit was the city of Cleveland, which saw an increase of $.14 per gallon to $2.86. Across the country, the most expensive local averages for Unleaded was in San Francisco, with a price of $3.12 per gallon, up from $3.04 the week before. The lowest local averages for Unleaded were reported in Houston at $2.64, up $.08 from the previous week.
by John Keller | Oct 5, 2010 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News
Just how important is the c-store industry to the American economy, and the retail fuel industry specifically? Take a look at these statistics from an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as reported by NACS Online:
- There are 144,500 convenience stores in the USA as of 2010
- Total convenience store US sales for 2009 was $511 billion
- The average convenience store selling fuel sees 1,100 customers per day
- Convenience stores have an 80 percent share of the gasoline market
On a related note, in a Balvor/NACS Motor Fuels Retail Survey, fuel retailers surveyed sold an average of over 125,000 gallons of fuel per month.
Clearly the c-store industry plays a critical role in the daily lives of American consumers.
