More gas stations are independently owned, with owners selling fuel under the banner of a recognized brand and deciding themselves what price to charge. Now, across B.C.’s 1,368 gas stations, the decision on what to charge at the pump depends on the relationship between the station operator and the supplier of fuel. In the 1980s, most gas stations were owned and operated by one of the big players. This is because gas stations are more and more reliant on food and drink sales and car washes to make more profit. Werner Antweiler, an economics professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, said profit margins are higher in refining than in retail and refiners are less interested in controlling the process from extraction to sales at the pump, preferring to allow companies or individuals with expertise in storefront retail to take over. retail assets to Parkland, including Metro Vancouver’s only refinery, and at the start of 2019 Husky announced it was considering selling its retail operations and its refinery in Prince George, the second of B.C.’s two refineries. In 2016, Esso sold the bulk of its Metro Vancouver stations to 7-Eleven and Parkland Fuels. However, the Kent report said the ownership landscape was changing, with traditional pit-to-pump operators - those responsible for extraction, refining, transportation and retailing - getting out of retail. Gas-price wars first came to Vancouver in the summer of 1998 when U.S.-based Arco Fuels bought a string of Lower Mainland gas stations and began selling discounted gas that it barged in from a refinery in Washington state.īefore that, gas stations would change their price infrequently, usually when there was a significant change in the price of crude oil or a tax change. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO / PNG Arco Fuels opened salvo in late ’90s gas war
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