by John Keller | Feb 21, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
In the latest US Energy Information Administration “This Week In Petroleum” report, the US EIA says there are signs that improved fuel margins may be on the horizon.
From the report: “Despite the significant rise in retail gasoline prices since the start of the year, a part of the even steeper rise in wholesale prices has not yet been fully reflected in pump prices. Thus, if wholesale prices were to remain steady rather than decline, a modest further increase in pump prices would be expected.”
That means the potential is there for retail fuel prices to increase a little more to cover the wholesale price increases seen since the beginning of the year. That would allow c-stores to catch up in their margins. How likely are wholesale fuel prices to remain steady? The report states that refinery maintenance typically peaks in February, so we should be nearly finished with that part of the season. The report also states that 11 million barrels of waterborn gasoline are on their way to the US and Canada. And finally, the report states that reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) futures and Brent spot prices have declined recently.
It has been a tough start to the 2013 year for c-store fuel margins. We can expect Q1 retail fuel results to reflect these low fuel margins in January and February. Hopefully the wholesale prices will settle and allow c-stores to return to normal retail fuel margins in March and on into the spring when retail fuel demand begins its annual increase.
by John Keller | Feb 15, 2013 | Industry News, Retail Fuel Margins
In the weekly report from OPIS, national retail fuel margins have shown a reverse in their three week trend, rising $0.038 this week to $0.122 per gallon. Retail fuel margins are now a penny better than they were at the beginning of February.
Average retail fuel margins for 2013 now stand at $0.130 per gallon.
by John Keller | Feb 9, 2013 | Customer News, Fuel Price Management, PriceAdvantage, Retail Fuel Margins
Valero announced in their 2012 end of year financial results that margins were up and volumes were steady.
Margins for the quarter were at $0.208 per gallon up from $0.139 in 2011. For the entire year, margins were up from $0.144 in 2011 to $0.162 in 2012.
Volumes per day per site for the quarter and for the year were relatively steady, down only 1.6% for the quarter, and up .004% for the year. According to the US Energy Information Administration, 2012 fuels demand was down .3%. That means Valero gained market share in 2012.
According to the report, Valero’s retail segment reported $95 million of operating income in the fourth quarter of 2012 versus $83 million of operating income in the fourth quarter of 2011. The increase in operating income was mainly due to higher fuel margins in the U.S., which was somewhat offset by lower fuel margins and a non-cash asset impairment loss of $9 million before taxes in Canada. For the full-year 2012, the retail segment generated $348 million of operating income, and those results were second only to the 2011 record-high results of $381 million.
We at the PriceAdvantage team would like to congratulate the Valero retail fuels group on their success in 2012. The fourth quarter of 2012 was the first full quarter when PriceAdvantage was in production at all the 1000+ Valero company stores.
by John Keller | Jan 28, 2013 | Retail Fuel Margins
In their most recent report, OPIS revealed a drop in retail fuel margins of $0.021 per gallon to reverse a two week trend. The national retail fuel margin is now $0.150 per gallon.
The average retail fuel margin for 2013 remains the same as last week at $0.148 per gallon.
From a fuel price management and fuel pricing strategy perspective, these margin numbers represent what NACS calls typical fuel margins for an overall one year period. That’s welcome news as we start off the new year with much stronger margins than we did in 2012.
by John Keller | Jan 22, 2013 | Fuel Price Management, Fuel Pricing Strategy, Retail Fuel Margins
The latest OPIS report shows that retail fuel margins increased for the second straight week, this time by $0.025 per gallon. The national average retail fuel margin is now $0.171 per gallon.
The average retail fuel margin for 2013 now stands at $0.148 per gallon.
From a fuel price management and fuel pricing strategy perspective, this is welcome relief to the margins we were dealing with at the turn of the new year. Current margins are now settling in to what NACS calls typical fuel margins for an overall one year period.
by John Keller | Jan 11, 2013 | Retail Fuel Margins
According to this week’s OPIS report, US national retail fuel margins reversed their two week trend and increased by $0.02 per gallon from last week. The national average retail fuel margin is now $0.146 per gallon.
So far the average 2013 retail fuel margin is $0.136 per gallon. According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, typical fuel margins are in the range of $0.18 per gallon over an annual period, so the c-store industry is bumping along the bottom of the fuel margin sea as we start off the new year.
From a gas pricing strategies perspective, this is the time of year when fuel managers need to simply hold on until the market improves and margins can return to more favorable conditions.
