The Oil Drum: Canada

4 comments on The Round-Up: May 25th 2007

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Adam W on May 25, 2007 - 10:25am

I haven't gotten through the whole drumbeat yet, but I had to stop and comment on this bit of delusional hilarity from the guy closing his pumps to, apparently, sock it to those oil companies:

“Somebody out there is making money at these prices, but not me,” said Pollack, 57. “So I just thought: What can I do to help the consumer?”

What can you do? How about not restricting supply? By this logic, the real key to lowering gas prices is to get rid of competition. Brilliant!I have to laugh at this sort of reasoning, otherwise it gets depressing...Can you imagine how quickly people would turn on him if he succeeding in organizing a mass gas station closure?

And having worked in the retail business, it's pretty widely known and accepted that gas stations do not make most of their profit off of gas. When they sell a bag of chips bottle of pop, that's where the good money is. When you pay an extra 50 cents for something over what you'd pay at the grocery store, that's mostly gravy for the gas station. Gas is like the sale items that get you into grocery stores, so you'll buy other stuff while you're there.

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jografy on May 25, 2007 - 12:56pm

I drive past an Esso station every day here in Brampton. They were one of the outlets that had shortage problems. The days that they were out of gasoline people were still streaming in and out to get to the Tim Horton's Express. And this station is very ahrd to access because of concrete medians in the two cross roads. TH coffee is only a couple of bucks a litre.

I wish we could afford the life we are living.

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porsena on May 28, 2007 - 4:25pm

Yes, the retail margin is slender. An acquaintance on the retail side told me that he couldn't make a living off just one gas station, even with the convenience store. He said you need at least two.