Gas prices

Yes on the small business and yes on the markup. If you're in the business of dealing in a commodity that is as volatile as the oil business and are not offsetting your risk and ensuring your profits in the futures markets you should not be in that business. A simple look back into the futures/retail spreads will give you a good idea of historical profit margins and markups. Today's numbers are telling the gouging tale. The guy who doesn't offset costs and volatility in these ways is either stupid or too lazy to learn and figures he'll make a killing when times are good and then quit when things go bad. Transportation costs are the same issue. If you're getting gouged by your local transporter, find a way around it. Cooperative ventures with local owner operators, leasing equipment and space on trucks are also ways to control costs and risk, but you need to get off your butt and learn the system and the ways to get around in the road blocks. There are folks out there who are smart enough and resourceful enough to do this and still deliver a good product at a fair price but too many are willing to succumb to the lure of the fast buck for a quick hit and out.

While I'm not disputing your basic facts, I have to ask have you every run a small business.

Were you successful, profitable, charging less than 100% above wholesale costs for the products you sold?

There are at least two additional levels of the gasoline/ diesel supply chain you have missed. Most stations are supplied by either a company owned distribution center for large chains like Loves and P/FJ. Everyone else gets truck load shipments from a local or regional distribution center.

Once worked for a fellow who had a small fleet station near downtown Dallas. He purchased 6,500 gallon truckloads two or three times a week.

His wholesale cost was near $1.000 per gallon. He could receive the fuel for 85 cents, if he picked it up at the distribution center with his own tanker trucks.

Ever seen the paperwork and regulations for hazardous materials carriers? You need a 3/4 ton pickup to carry it all.

At the time, the gasoline refinery costs was near 56 cents. That is the same as the gasoline futures price you mentioned, which is two to three months in the future.

And that price is at the refinery.

The wholesaler had to pay transportation costs, usually a combination of pipeline and trucking. Some places in the nation have rail delivery costs. Plus the costs of maintaining the storage infrastructure.

He was selling the fuel for about $1.65 per gallon, and not making a killing after he paid staff, taxes, inspections fees, etc.

Also, a retailer cannot sell the truck load of fuel for what they paid for it. That is a fast way to go broke in rising prices. He must sell the fuel for a costs that will leave him enough money to pay for the next full load.

It is also very hard to tell if the place local branded location selling fuel is corporate owned or a franchisee.

Many fuel locations make more profit on the store and retail snacks and such than on the fuel they sell.

I'm not denying that some price gouging occurs. And some corporate locations sell enough fuel per day to make a very nice income.

But a lot of mom and pop locations still exist, and they are getting by basically because they provide their own labor for 'free'.

Folks, gasoline futures this Friday morning are $ 0.67 a gallon. Yes that's futures but retail costs follow these closely on the way up and are very sticky going down. Add Federal state and local taxes and price you pay at the pump should be somewhere around $1.50-1.60 or lower. The retail establishments are literally committing highway robbery. And guess who's got the gun and who's the victim. And then, of course there's California and the rest of the west coast. Just can't wait till I hear them start to cry about lost tax revenue. Boo-Hoo, or should I say BS.

Oil prices are so cheap that hunderds have already been laid off in the west Texas fracking fields.

At 27.17 per barrel, the spot price in early (US) trading Friday - almost all the new wells drilled in twenty years in the US are unprofitable to operate. Certainly many off-shore rigs also.

The last time I paid over $2 per gallon for gasoline was Jan 9. All of 2019, I never paid of $2.499, and that was in Florida about a year ago.

Don't worry, prices will be back up close to $2.40 by the time summer rolls around and the Yankees start traveling.

I paid $2.35 at Sam's in Fort Walton (FL) two days ago. :B

There was a station in Milton yesterday that was selling diesel for $2.15! Every station in Navarre was at around $2.55 to $2.69 as of yesterday.

Dan

Over $3 in Portland Oregon. Go figure.

Under $1.60 in Cleveland.

And I was rejoicing at $1.07/litre for diesel.:S We can thank a brutal exchange rate and taxes but still it's a big improvement.

1.38 at Rapid City sd Windmill Truck Stop. All others still about 2.09 yesterday, even Sams Club . Diesel 2.79 everywhere.

Oklahoma City Costco is $1.17 for E10 Regular, other stations are as low as $1.21