by John Keller | Mar 21, 2014 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
In today’s OPIS report, the US average retail fuel margins are down $0.002 per gallon to $0.143 per gallon. That makes for the second consecutive drop in retail fuel margins. The year to date average now stands at $0.157 per gallon and the six week average is at $0.142 per gallon.
This day in 2013 the average retail fuel margin in the US was $0.05 per gallon higher, at $0.195 per gallon. That makes four consecutive weeks where the retail fuel margin last year was higher than this year.
The weekly average for the month of January this year was $0.172, for February this year was $0.147 per gallon, and so far the weekly average for this March stands at $0.148 per gallon. In comparison, last year the January retail fuel margin average was $0.148, February was $0.105, and the March retail fuel margin average was $0.212. So it appears that even though 2014 started off strong with a solid January and February compared to last year, March is going out like a lamb with margins much lower than 2013.
by John Keller | Mar 14, 2014 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Software, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
The latest OPIS report shows that average retail fuel margins across the US dipped slightly this week. The average retail fuel margin average now stands at $0.145 per gallon, down $0.012 per gallon. The year to date retail fuel margin average is $0.159. The six week average is $0.148 per gallon, down for the fourth consecutive week.
The equivalent day this time last year saw average retail fuel margins at $0.218 per gallon. Still, even with margins that high for this specific week last year, the year to date margins for 2013 at this point in time were $0.151 per gallon, so average retail fuel margins this year are up $0.008 compared to 2013.
Last year retail fuel margins remained flat to finish off the quarter. Hopefully history will repeat itself and we’ll see a strong finish to 2014 Q1 margins and remain at the $0.159 level.
by John Keller | Mar 7, 2014 | Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
Today’s OPIS report shows the average retail fuel margin across the US rose $0.023 per gallon this week to $0.157 per gallon. That’s the second consecutive margin increase, returning average fuel prices to levels last seen one month ago.
The year to date average is $0.160 per gallon and the six week average is $0.154 per gallon.
It was a year ago this week that retail fuel margins jumped nearly $0.10 per gallon, where they reached a high for the 2013 year to date of $0.261 per gallon. That means current retail fuel margin levels are now nearly $0.11 per gallon below last year.
Last year at this time we saw two consecutive margin decreases, and then a particularly difficult spring, where out of ten consecutive weeks from March into May, there were only two weeks showing margin increases. We can only hope that prices have already reached seasonal highs, giving retail fuel margins a chance to catch up and perhaps even gain some ground.
by John Keller | Feb 28, 2014 | Retail Fuel Margins
According to today’s OPIS weekly report, average retail fuel margins rebounded ever so slightly this week to $0.134 per gallon. That’s a $0.006 improvement from last week.
The year to date average now stands at $0.160 per gallon, and the six week average is also $0.160.
For the first time this year, the current retail fuel margin average is lower this week than the equivalent week last year. In 2013, the average retail fuel margin was exactly $.03 higher, at $0.164 per gallon. Let’s hope the increase in margins continues through the rest of Q1.
by John Keller | Feb 21, 2014 | Retail Fuel Margins
According to OPIS, the average retail fuel margin across the US dropped again this week. That’s the fourth consecutive weekly drop and the retail fuel margin average is now at its lowest since January 3.
The average retail fuel margin now stands at $0.128 per gallon, off $0.018 per gallon from last week, and almost $.05 per gallon since the trend began on January 31. The year to date average is $0.164 and the six week average is $0.168 per gallon.
Last year the retail fuel margin average was $0.102 per gallon. We can only hope that retail fuel margins turn around quickly.
by John Keller | Feb 21, 2014 | Fuel Price Management, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
According to an excellent article written by Samantha Oller, Senior Editor of CSPNet.com, January retail fuel margins in 2014 varied widely across the different US geographic regions.
The highest margins in January 2014 could be found in the Midwest at 16.4 cents per gallon. In Texas, the retail fuel margins were lowest at 14.2 cents per gallon. In the Southeast, retail fuel margins were right in the middle at 15.2 cents per gallon.
The article cites Raymond James & Associates as well as OPIS as their source. The Raymond James & Associates research is based on their 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.
According to the 2014 NACS Fuels Report, on average, it costs a retailer about 12 to 16 cents to sell a gallon of gasoline. That means January has allowed retailers to start the year off in positive retail margin territory. Unfortunately, it is typically the month of February when we start seeing downward pressures on retail fuel margins as we head into the spring. Hopefully the c-store retail industry can cling to these margins in the coming months.
