Quote:
Originally Posted by driveway
I thought you were, but then you've shifted what you're saying a few times in this thread.
For example, first you said this:
But then you agreed with this statement:
So I'm not sure you even know what you're saying anymore.
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Driveway you just don't understand. And the gap between where you are and reality here seems to be large. The RETAILER is someone who runs the site, the land may very well be owned by the name you see on the sign, but the RETAILER (the caps here is a hint that the person running the business on the site is not the same as the large oil company that you see on the sign) is always working on a tight margin. His cost goes up completely directly with the cost of crude.
It works like this in AB (and in most areas):
1. Producer. There are hundreds of these, they collect the oil into leases. Yes, Imperial is one of them, but they have a much smaller piece of the pie than many people would think, they have some large projects such as Cold Lake, but based on their sizable retail presence, on a relative basis they are a smaller player as a producer.
2. An aggregator and/or marketer and/or trader will collect the producers volume and eventually sell to ...
3. A refiner, for AB crude is generally either in Edmonton, the west coast (BC and Wash) Southern Ontario, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Lousiana or China (I may have missed a state or two there
4. A distributor (sometimes the refiner) will move oil products from the refiner to distribution points and then on to the retail sites
5. A retailer, generally a small business where an individual will operate what are generally a refiner or distributors assets for a small cpl margin ... like 2 or 3. And anyone with experience a little more direct that 'an understanding of geopolitical issues' will tell you that gas alone won't keep the individual in business. They sell convenience items to make their money.
The point of the op is to say that #5 doesn't make much, which is true. #1 makes tons right now, #2 and #3 have profits that come and go (because of the fluctuating costs they pay #1. and #4 doesn't pay well in Canada but with the right model can do ok in the US because of the stronger critical mass of demand.
What you and Reggie and millions of other naive people do is blur them all together when in reality most of the time it is different folks in the chain. You are Blurring #5 with #1.
OK that's my way of making it as clear as possible for you, if you don't get it now, there's nothing I can do for you.