Exxon selling retail stations - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Lazarus · 06-13-2008, 09:32 PM

Exxon is selling the company owned retail gas stations because they can't make any money at it.

Quote:

ExxonMobil, the highest-profit company in the world in recent times, is selling its 2,220 company-owned U.S. gasoline stations, in part because it's gotten so hard to make money selling gas and diesel fuel to consumers.

Duffman · 06-13-2008, 10:13 PM

From what I have seen, Retail pumps are the least profitable part of their supply chain. I am sure they dont want any more of the backlash they are getting as well. If you were going to steal gas, would you steal it from Mom & Pop's corner station or XOM?

Arminius · 06-13-2008, 10:53 PM

I saw that report on CNN and read Exxon's explanation, but thought it was a bogus explanation. The first thing that came to mind was that the future is not in gas. Oil, not gas, will always be profitable, but it's going to take some time to sell all those stations, and in a couple of years people are going to be (hopefully) driving cars that run mostly on alternative energy. The writing is on the wall.

Sell high; buy low.

Duffman · 06-13-2008, 11:16 PM

My thinking is 180 degrees of this. Consumers will always require energy to power their vehicles. Unless it all goes electric, gas stations will be around to sell you H2, bio-fuels or continue with petrol. The future of continued 100% of autos burning oil is as certain as a 100% electric fleet, neither a good position to stake the future of the worlds largest corporation on.

SVOboy · 06-13-2008, 11:23 PM

They'll be happy when the realize everyone is plugging in at home (but then they'll be sad when they realize they're not selling gas).

Arminius · 06-13-2008, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duffman

My thinking is 180 degrees of this. Consumers will always require energy to power their vehicles. Unless it all goes electric, gas stations will be around to sell you H2, bio-fuels or continue with petrol. The future of continued 100% of autos burning oil is as certain as a 100% electric fleet, neither a good position to stake the future of the worlds largest corporation on.

True that. However, if 80% of people can "refuel" their electric car at home, most of them will do so. No doubt there will be all sorts of other alternative fuels people will be using, not to mention the occasional battery-powered customer's car that needs a juice. This, however, is not the volume of traffic Exxon stations are used to. Best to sell while the books look good.

I'll offer them 10 cents on the dollar.

FX2.3 · 06-13-2008, 11:31 PM

Unless you have solar or some other way of generating that electricity it will only shift from "Big Oil" to "Big Electric".. rolling blackouts anyone?

Exxon wants out before the oil bubble burts.. I saw the PR campaign they are running.. I have no sympathy for that massive of a corporation..

Arminius · 06-13-2008, 11:45 PM

A corporation is a corporation, in my opinion. It's the job of a corporation to make money for its stockholders in a legal fashion. Regarding "Big Oil," however, it has been investing money alternative energy many times more than the US government. The reason is that they need a future source of income. "Big oil" must have a product that you and I want to buy in the future. Government, however, will always have you and I as a source of income, even if we don't like the product.

And there will only be rolling blackouts if we are stopped from making sources of electricity.

ttoyoda · 06-13-2008, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Unless you have solar or some other way of generating that electricity it will only shift from "Big Oil" to "Big Electric".. rolling blackouts anyone?

I would think those cars would recharge in the middle of the night when demand is the lowest.

Duffman · 06-14-2008, 02:44 AM

If I wasn’t clear in my previous post I think XOM is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. The future is not oil but energy, I see the other oil companies like BP and Shell moving more towards alternatives but I don’t see much from XOM (doesn’t mean its not happening I just don’t hear much of XOM). But without their distributing stations, how can they sell their product (energy) in the future. There will be no Mobil brand H2, it will be elementary pure and can be derived from water using electricity, something anybody can do. Bio-Fuels seem to be the realm of the independents and unlike minerals below the ground that you can buy rights to and deny others access to, crops or algae can be grown anywhere and are freely traded. I don’t think XOM will be the wealthiest corporation in the world in 20-30 years.