Posted on 06/12/2008 2:01:23 PM PDT by Fox_Mulder77
......The world's largest publicly traded oil company said Thursday it will sell its 820-company owned stations and another 1,400 outlets operated by dealers to gasoline distributors across the U.S.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The Sultan of Dubia might be in the market?
Interesting part of this is that they are selling to distributors, in other words jobbers. What about the independent little folks. Their fist go around getting out gave opportunity to the single and limited multi-store operators.
If they were smart they’d move their headquarters out of the US and issue a statement as to why.
Welll... problem is it probably costs them way to much in PR loss. And - by the way, thee’s very very little margin in operating stations. Most integrated oil majors don’t actually operate their own stations, but lease them to local folks.
If he's an idiot maybe. Retail gas stations only make 4 cents a gallon on gas! and the higher the price of crude the less they make.
I would expect to see such an announcement within a period of soon to just a few years. All the major oil companies are heading to Dubai and setting up shop.
What if he brings in his own refined gasoline from the UAE to sell to Americans?
820 gas and convenience stations are miniscule business for a giant like Exxon. If they own it, it means they are responsible for the actions of every pimply teenager who works there and common criminal who comes to rob one at 2 AM. These stores probably don’t make much money anyway (and certainly not compared to the upstream margins they are getting now with high oil prices). In sum, it probably doesn’t mean very much.
Maybe that’s why they are doing this, because of the pressures building.
The dirty secret is that your local corner gas station makes a profit of between 5 and 10 cents a gallon. So the owner/lessor of the station makes a gross profit of $3000-$6000 per month if it’s a busy station pumping 60,000 gallons. And out of that $3-6,000, they have to pay their hired help, other operating expenses, and maybe even give themselves a paycheck. And in a time of rising prices, that profit can evaporate, if their wholesale price has risen faster than the market conditions allow them to raise their pump price.
Many gas stations nowadays make more money from the drinks and snacks in the convenience stores attached than from selling the gas.
Exxon and others co’s are getting ready to bolt...Dubai is likely the next stop
Perhaps they couldn’t find any single and/or limited multi-store operators that were interested.
Oh sure, many leasing already, would be most interested. There was a good buy out program from Exxon some time ago. I believe the state here stepped in to make sure the independents got first crack so to speak. I am sure the jobbers “the distributors” don’t mind ponying up so they can create hostage type leases with operators. That is real hit and miss in this industry, some jobbers play dirty, some play nice.
The second comment I would make is this... the oil company doesn't trust our current political climate so if the liberals try to "tax" windfall profits... guess what? there ain't much of Exxon in United States anymore... I bet Exxon's next step is to register as a UAE corporation...
Just about all our Exxon stations were torn down here in New Orleans in the early 1990s and the land bought up by Walgreens.
“Convenience stores make their money on bread, milk, pizza and beer. When I worked for a major independent refiner, we studied retail three different times and came close to buying a 200 store chain in MN-WI-IA. “
Yep. You can see iy just in the simple mark up for a bottle of water. Most convenience stores will charge you a $1 for a bottle when you can go to Sams Club and buy a case of 30 for about $4.
Never fear...Pelosi will introduce legislation to outlaw this
I’ve noticed the “disappearing gas station” trend for a few years. To make any money, the station needs an attached convenience store and about 20 pumps. All the old-time stations are being pulled down, torn up, and built over.
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