"Valero Energy Corp. stopped selling gasoline on the spot, or wholesale, market in Southern California ...Exxon Mobil Corp. is also rationing fuel to U.S. West Coast terminal customers ... Spot gasoline in Los Angeles has surged $1 a gallon this week to a record $1.45 a gallon premium versus gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s the highest level for the fuel since at least November 2007 ...I can get gas, but it’s going to cost me $4.90 a gallon, and I can’t sell it here for $5 ...My market is open, but no gas ... The profit margins are so low it’s not worth it ... The mom- and-pop gas stations are having to close down from either not
being able to obtain gasoline from their regular distributor or cannot
afford the break-even price of almost $5 per gallon ... The independent gas station owners are typically the first to run out of
fuel and shut their pumps when spot prices surge because they often
lack long-term contracts to buy from fuel suppliers at set prices."
Ein Artikel von Lynn Doan und Joshua Falk über rapide ansteigende Benzinpreise aufgrund von Rafinnerieengpässen in Kalifornien, welche unabhängige Tankstellenbesitzer aber auch Großhandelsketten wie Cosco dazu zwingen, den Benzinverkauf einzustellen. Erschienen auf Bloomberg (4. Oktober 2012).
