Comments for Gas Stations Hit Skids »
Posted By STONERS 1 year, 5 months ago in Business & FinanceShuttered gas pumps in Blue Point, N.Y. New York state has lost 200 gas stations during the past year, and the closures stretch across the country.
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mark-stevens1 year, 5 months ago
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Gas stations are going the way of horse and buggy. Exxon is selling off all their stations, and ARCO is selling off all their west coast stations.
Exxon is currently advertising their new electric car battery. Those who got gas expensive, the SUV group now have $65,000 cars that they still owe $40,000 and can't give them away.
Karma does come in all colors!!
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RichFatCat1 year, 5 months ago
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This is a solid business move. First, when gas hits $10 or more per gallon before alternative vehicles are available and affordable, this will ensure a "shortage" and a feeling of panic and urgency that will make you eager and thankful to pay "only" ten bucks a gallon.
Secondly, it locks in solid and rising profit while cutting back "gas" stations and replacing them with other retail outlets. So our costs in adapting to change are not only covered, but our profits are insured!
McCain knows this and has promised tax incentives to help oil companies in the change over period. He understands the needs of business.
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bruhaha1 year, 5 months ago
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Shell is busy selling off all it's company owned gas stations. Mobil had started selling off at least a few of it's company owned gas stations. I don't know if BP or the others are following suit but I have to assume they are at least thinking about it.
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bruhaha1 year, 5 months ago
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I agree with those who say we'll be seeing more and more gas stations shut down, especially since the major oils are getting out of the business of retail. Some of these people are barely getting by, and then they have a costly leak and/or repair and........you get the picture.
I do know that through my dealing with my job, some of the gas station owners didn't know what they were getting into when they purchased the stations.
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david_nwpa1 year, 5 months ago
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ExxonMobil is closing or selling ALL of its corporate owned stations. It is seeking to reduce overhead and get out of that realm of the business. They claim it will save the company millions in lost revenue per year. I think it will cost consumers more at the pump.
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Charlson1 year, 5 months ago
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And he is sooo right. and not politically but factually. It takes a oil crisis, and this is what it's become, to awaken Americans to the fact that we are addicted to oil and need a program to ween us off. As much as these prices hurts me and you, that's what it takes to generate support for alternate energy sources.
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hurr1Comment removed: Hard Banned
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ningyo1 year, 5 months ago
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the "greedy big oil monopolies" are getting out of the gas retail business..exxon/mobil just sold 1600 of its stations and closed another 400..its just not what they do best and not profitable for them to run..its a very small percent of their business and the most costly to maintain..likely the only chains to stay open will be the state communist state owned ones like lukoil and citgo..which should be just fine with all the lib/dems who dont want to give their money to american corps..but have no problem propping up thug totalitarian regimes
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bigG1 year, 5 months ago
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"ALL the major oil companies make their money REFINING oil for other countries."
Not quite. Refining is marginal just like marketing.
The Major Oil companies make their profits off of exploration and production of oil. They are making massive profits right now because they are selling oil that would have been profitable at $ 35 a barrel, and with today's prices, voila - record profits.
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Nowalive1 year, 5 months ago
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That, to an extent is true. However, the marginal price for oil is roughly $65 per barrel. I see OPEC and Wall Street as two reasons the price has been inflated 115%. Each time a cloud passes overhead there is some dire prediction from Wall Street and speculators run up the price 3-4 dollars more per barrel. OPEC announces only a marginal increase in supply, it is put out as another doom and gloom press release so speculators hit us again.
Additionally the petro-chemical industry is very lucrative for refiners. Want the price of oil and gas to come down? Go back to glass containers, which is far easier to recycle, and doesn't sit in landfills for 10,000 years. That would remove a large amount of the cost if plastics were reduced.
Additionally, gasoline and diesel should be free as they WERE originally waste byproducts of the refining process.
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bigG1 year, 5 months ago
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I will agree that speculators have some effect on prices, but not near what some people seem to think. The truth is that stockpiles have not been increased over the last few years but demand has increased significantly and is still increasing due to emerging markets. The value of the U.S. dollar has a big effect - note the last two days when the dollar strengthened against foreign currencies.
Additionally, the " easy oil" is gone folks. Other than Iraq, the days of drilling a few thousand feet and hitting paydirt is history. As a result, all new projects are massively more expensive and this will be reflected in prices. By all accounts we are at PEAK OIL now.
Although kerosene(for lighting) was the initial reason for refining oil - it was quickly replaced by gasoline to provide fuel for the internal combustion engine.
Oil has only been around about 150 years plus or minus. Plastics haven't been around anywhere near that long.
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Nowalive1 year, 5 months ago
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You are right in that respect. However there is a third problem. Refining capacity.
These are my thoughts on a SHORT TERM solution.
1. Reopen ALL idle refineries. There are refineries that have been idle for 10 years now.
2. Eliminate ALL boutique blends, establish one clean blend and mass run it at EVERY non specialty refinery. (LA County has it's own blend{example})
3. Increase storage. There is a definite lack of tank farms.
4. Reopen ALL capped domestic wells, increase drilling domestically.
5. Reduce the Federal Highway Tax 50% (9 cents), eliminate ethanol and use the $1.08 subsidy for ethanol to replace the FHT reduction.
Again these are just SHORT TERM solutions, alternative energy sources must be investigated and implemented.
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bigG1 year, 5 months ago
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Those are definitely good strategies, except nearly all of the mothballed refineries were closed for a reason - either they were uneconomical to run or they were unsafe, and the cost of revamping them would outeigh the benefit. You can't expect a refiner to operate at a loss.
The real short term fix is to quit consuming as much. I now ride the bus to work and I figured that will cut my gas consumption by 80%. I realize that won't be practical for everyone, but those that can should. More people need to park their gas guzzlers and drive more efficient cars as well. I also have increased my thermostat two degrees and use my ceiling fans.
We did that in the seventies and in short order the price came down and the availability was there.
We certainly agree on the alternative energy sources, and the time to do that is now.
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Nowalive1 year, 5 months ago
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BG,
Check out my site and see some of my other thoughts on straightening out the problems. Excellent discussion! Give me your feedback.
I can't take public transportation to work as it does not reach my job. Urban dwellers should ALL be using public transit not driving 10 blocks 3 times a day.
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Nowalive1 year, 5 months ago
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http://www.freewebs.com/nowalive
http://www.we-the-people.50megs.com
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bruhaha1 year, 5 months ago
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But of course you don't mind Bush and many republicans being cozy with Saudi Arabia, Burma (McCain had several lobbyists on his campaign who lobbied for the military junta in Burma....).....etc.
And it was Bush who looked into Putin's eyes and got a sense of his soul.
So who again is propping up thug totalitarian regimes?
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texangelwings1 year, 5 months ago
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Not only are gas stations hitting the skids around here in small town America, but there are many gas stations that no longer are accepting debt nor credit cards.
I don't know how long the campers and boaters will continue to frequent the lake!
Thanks STONERS!
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Nowalive1 year, 5 months ago
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In my immediate area we have lost 5 Gulf stations recently. We lost the independents like East Coast a long time ago. This is IMHO a way to kill off the competition. Get rid of the independents and the big 3 can make more. On the other hand, we lost a couple Sunocos recently too. Hmmmm.
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walden31 year, 5 months ago
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I've seen a few close in my area too.
I'm still mad about the Exxon Mobil merger. In 1999 when they were trying to merge I was against it because I knew it would hurt competition. Many corners had both Exxon and Mobil stations. That to me seems good for competition. Now, post merger, there is only one station to a corner. Seems like the reduction in competition would lead to higher prices.
Eventually we will have one giant bank, one giant store and one giant gas station to not choose among and our paychecks can be deposited right into our accounts at each.
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SFCGuyW1 year, 5 months ago
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The successful gas stations are those that have made being a convenience store their primary profit maker. Most stations make very little profit from selling gasoline because of restrictions on them via state laws restricting how much profit per gallon they are allowed to make. However, those with well stocked, well designed convenience stores can make a large profit off of the store items.
Like movie theatres, which make their profit off the concession stand food, so goes the new and successful gas stations. Unfortunately, most independent owned stations have very little money to put into converting to and stocking a convenience store. That is why it usually is chains such as 7-11 and RaceTrac that flurish.
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david_nwpa1 year, 5 months ago
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On the way home from Niagara Falls, NY to Erie, PA, we counted at least 15 closed gas stations with names like Sunoco, Shell, and BP. All of these stations had been in business no less than five years ago. The gas price signs looked like they had been changed as late as last year. The convenience store business is expensive, and franchises are drying up quickly.
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bruhaha1 year, 5 months ago
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With gas prices as high as they are, even some of the gas stations with more room for candy, pop, cigarettes, and other convenience items aren't making as much because less people are going inside to purchase things, and those who do aren't spending as much on items other than gas.
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pramol1 year ago
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I have been in the gas station business for over a decade. I have owned my own mom and pop stores and leased stores from RaceTrac.
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DO NOT LEASE a store from Racetrac they just like the big oil companies have made there money and the owners are moving onto bigger better projects in Atlanta with the millions they have made over the past decade. They drain as much money from their corporate owned stores and then rename the stores RACEWAY to be leased to a contract operator. They are unable to keep running their corporate owned store on there high volume, low margins basis so they lease out there stores to contractor operators. Soon the operator will notice a sales decline due to the change of brand from RACETRAC TO RACEWAY. He/She will be obligated to keep their lease up-to-date by paying high rent and also using his/her own finances to repair and maintain the building. DO NOT GET STUCK WITH THIS COMPANY. They require 100k intial investment which is not secured, because they have a 30-day termination clause in their leases. They can terminate the lease with a 30-day notice at which point you will lose the 100k investment because nobody is obligated to by back the business from you.-
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pathanjanam11 months ago
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I am 100% agree with the comments about racetrac/raceway. Bunch of thugs and just like big oil companies they don't give a rat ass and get you screwd. I know three operators and when a new one comes in they are asked how long would you stay or when are you going to leave the store.
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