BP has generally been my station of choice for quite some time, but things have slowly been starting to frustrate me with many of the local BP stations (look at GRGP tonight! ALL the high priced stations are BP! ELEVEN!). For one- while they had been typically running 9-cents more for a higher grade, they now run 11-cents higher. IE- $3.99/$4.10/$4.21 That irritates me to no end. Speedway had adopted the 10-cent rule a few years back after having gone as little as 7-cents higher per grade. So why has BP suddenly decided they need more than 9-cents? I wonder if it has something to do with more and more cars requiring premium fuel, like one of mine.
Next, today BP decides that its going to try its own hike, to an astounding $3.99! What in the heck is going on? I must say the BP at 28th and Wilson is perhaps the only BP around with decent management… they went from $3.85 or $3.88 (can’t remember) to $3.78 late tonight.
Next time I think about going to BP, maybe I’ll elect for a station with better tactics than most the BP’s.
Again, please read- the BP at 28th and Wilson is NOT one of the BP’s I’m referring to. Here is a list:
BP @
Port Sheldon St & 28th Ave
36th St SW & Buchanan Ave
44th & Division
Kalamazoo Ave SE & 60th St SE
10 Mile & US-131
E Division & Wolverine
Plainfield & Woodworth
Fulton & E of Bronson
West River & US-131
Alpine & Coventry
E Division St near Stebbins Ave
Unless these BP stations change their habits, I’d like readers to know what kind of crap these stations are pulling. They are trying to pull a fast one. Even “almighty” Speedway didn’t reset to $3.99! They chose 14-cents LESS per gallon.
Gouging anyone? I’m done with said stations unless they change their practices.
Patrick
I don’t know why they would hike like that, but i have read that BP is the only company to custom blend their “premium” fuel.
Patrick, Schumackal Oil in TC has done this for years.. 11c differential for the grades. Yet ya go to the UP, there is a 10c total spread between 87 and 93 octane.
So it is not just BP.
We don’t buy any gas from BP, so I don’t see their rack prices. But, they should be pretty close to what we pay. Last spring the oil companies increased the spread between grades, and a lot of stations (including ours) decided that they needed to increase their spreads from 8 or 9 to 10. 11 is a bit high, but not rediculous.
Our margins today at $3.859, $3.959, and $4.059 are .142, .187, and .186. So, we make a little more per gallon on the higher grades. But, the volume is so low on them, that you don’t really make much profit. I think you are mistaken about an increase of premium only cars, because the amount of premium we sell drops every year.
10 years ago a lot of stations sold 5-10,000 gallons of premium per month, today it is rare to sell 2,000. So, an extra .045 per gallon for 2,000 gallons is an extra $90 per month. But, your profit is really decided by what day you get a delivery. The compartmets on a gas truck are normally divided into 2x 4,000 2x 2,000 and 1 1,400 gallon compartments. So, you are going to either get 1,400 or 2,000 gallons at a time, which will take a month to sell. There is a HUGE difference between retail prices today and rack prices a month ago. A lot of stations are losing 30+ cents per gallon on premium today.
Bottom line, premium has become a hassle for the oil companies, the trucking companies, and the retailers. If we ever find a more profitable product to put in those tanks, you will have a hard time finding premium gas
I didn’t hear anything about the BPs going $3.999, but I was told that the Meijer at 28th and I-96 went straight to $3.999. So, I don’t know who moved first.