by John Keller | Jun 19, 2012 | Industry News
Congratulations to Volta Oil for their recent implementation of PriceAdvantage fuel pricing software. Volta Oil is using the critical PriceAdvantage capabilities of automated PDI imports, real-time competitor survey information, and pushing prices to Gilbarco Passport POS and fuel pumps.
For Volta Oil, PriceAdvantage means no longer having to sift through a series of spreadsheets to figure out their next fuel pricing move.
Volta Oil has a total of 16 stores, proving that you don’t have to own a big chain of stores to benefit from the full blown fuel price management solution provided by PriceAdvantage.
by John Keller | Jun 18, 2012 | Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
Yet another drop in US retail fuel prices this week according to the US Energy Information Administration, this time $0.039 per gallon. That makes it the 11th straight price drop since April 2, where prices for Regular All Formulations of retail fuel peaked this year at $3.941. The last time regular unleaded fuel prices were at this level was February 13, 2012.
Fuel prices dropped in every PADD region except for the Midwest PADD2 where retail fuel prices were up $0.02 per gallon.
The largest fuel price drop for the week was in the West Coast PADD region where fuel prices dropped $0.129 to $3.964 per gallon. This is the first time regular unleaded fuel has been under $4.00 per gallon since February 20 of this year.
by John Keller | Jun 15, 2012 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News
According to a report by OPIS, fuel consumption is down 4.5% for the four week period ending June 8 compared to the same period last year.
In addition, OPIS reports the growth of ethanol fuel consumption has stalled, with the number of gallons in 2011 virtually unchanged from 2010.
From a fuel price management perspective, that means fuel volume comparisons should be expected to be less than last year, and ethanol fuel gallons are likely to be flat.
by John Keller | Jun 12, 2012 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News
The US Energy Information Administration reported in their This Week In Petroleum report that in the first quarter of 2012, US drivers consumed 5% less gasoline than in the same quarter of 2007.
In the first quarter of 2007, US drivers consumed just over 9.0 million bbl/d of gasoline. In the five years since, consumption has fallen about 450,000 bbl/d to average less than 8.6 million bbl/d for the first quarter of 2012.
This is the third industry source, after OPIS and MasterCard, to report a decline in fuel consumption.
From a fuel price management perspective, this is yet another indication that the competition for retail fuel sales continues to be intense. Fuel Pricing Software systems are critical for c-stores to achieve their fuel volume goals, whether they be maintaining fuel levels year over year, or gaining market share.
by John Keller | Jun 12, 2012 | Industry News
Today the US Energy Information Administration reported in their Short-Term Energy Outlook that they predict retail fuel prices of unleaded regular fuel to average $3.60 per gallon for the April through September season of 2012. That’s a $0.19 drop from the US EIA prediction last month.
Overall for the entire 2012 year, the US EIA predicts unleaded regular fuel to average $3.56 per gallon. That would be a $.03 per gallon increase over the $3.53 per gallon average of 2011.
Earlier this week the US EIA reported the average fuel price for unleaded regular currently stands at $3.57 per gallon.
by John Keller | Jun 12, 2012 | Industry News
According to today’s MasterCard SpendingPulse report, US gasoline demand dropped to the lowest levels in five weeks.
Fuel consumption was down 3.5% year over year, the 41st consecutive drop of that measure.