NACS Publishes 2006 Online Gasoline Price Resource Kit

Thursday, 02/02/2006

ALEXANDRIA, VA – On February 2, Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil will tell us if we’re in for an early spring or six weeks more of winter. And in another February 2 tradition, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) will release its annual gasoline price education resource kit to help address consumers’ concerns about gasoline supply and prices.   This is the fifth spring that NACS has developed online resources that proactively address many of the issues that could impact the petroleum markets this spring. This year’s resource kit, “Gasoline Prices 2006: Oh No, Not You Again,” (www.nacsonline.com/gaskit2006), is also the most comprehensive resource kit NACS has developed to date, addressing everything from who sells gas to how gasoline is purchased to how retailers are affected by higher prices.   The tools were developed to help educate the general public — including convenience store customers, legislators and reporters — about the factors influencing the petroleum market and the gasoline business.   “This year we have made it even easier for retailers to share the information in the kit with key media and legislators in their markets,” said NACS Vice President of Government Relations John Eichberger. “With one click, retailers can download all of the kit’s contents to their computers, which can then be burned to CDs and given to key opinion leaders. Or they can just print individual PDFs covering topics of most interest,” Eichberger said.   The February 2 Groundhog Day “prediction” certainly could affect the petroleum markets, which must produce more heating oil if the cold winter continues. But the petroleum markets actually are similar to the movie Groundhog Day, where Bill Murray’s character wakes up and finds that every day unfolds, event-by-event, exactly the same as the day he had just experienced. Like the character in Groundhog Day, the petroleum markets experiences similar conditions over and over — except on a seasonal, rather than daily, basis.   “However, 2006 is different in at least one respect. This is the time when retail prices typically reach their lowest level of the year, and this year gasoline prices are already at all-time seasonal highs,” cautioned Eichberger. “Today’s conditions will have a lasting impact on the market.”   The first week of February also traditionally marks the beginning of the spring transition to summer-blend fuel in the petroleum industry. Over the past six years, gasoline prices have increased an average of more than 30 cents per gallon between the first week in February and the time of the seasonal high price, typically late May.   The NACS resource kit explains that convenience and petroleum retailers, who sell an estimated 75 percent of all the gasoline purchased in the United States, dislike higher gasoline prices as much as their customers do, because their margins decrease while their costs — particularly credit card fees — increase.   The resource kit includes a number of online backgrounders that look at the markets over the past few years to give perspective to the seasonal transition. It also examines the role that environmental regulations and crude oil prices, among other factors, have on gasoline supply and prices.   -###-   The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) is an international trade association representing more than 2,200 retail and 1,800 supplier members. The U.S. convenience store industry, with over 138,200 stores across the country, posted $394 billion in total sales in 2004, with $262 billion in motor fuels sales.     Jeff Lenard Director, Communications National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) 1600 Duke St. Alexandria, VA 22314 703/518-4272; F 703/836-4564; This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

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