Kroger Fuel Sales Tops Big-Box Retailers in Latest NACS Retail Fuels Report

March 5th, 2013 by Fiedler Group

The National Association of Convenience Stores recently released their 2013 NACS Retail Fuels Report summarizing the current status of the U.S. Petroleum Industry.

The report provided fuel statistics associated with demand, vehicle types and usage, global and domestic supply, refining, distribution, and pricing.

It also presented very interesting data pertaining to retail operations.

  • There were 156,065 total retail fueling sites in the United States in 2012 – continuing the steady decline in retail fuel dispensing sites since the 1994 industry pinnacle of 202,800 sites (Source: National Petroleum News’ Market Facts 2012)
  • Convenience stores sell approximately 80% of the motor fuels purchased in the United States (Source: NACS State of the Industry data)
  • There are 4,893 big-box retailers with retail fueling sites, selling an estimated 12.4% of the motor fuels purchases in the U.S. The average site sells approximately 275,000 gallons per month – more than twice the volume of the traditional retail store. Kroger topped the hypermarket top five list of retailers with fueling outlets (Source: Energy Analysts International):
    • Kroger (1,090 outlets)
    • Walmart (1,036)
    • Sam’s Club (462)
    • Safeway (342)
    • Costco (336)

With regard to retail branding, the report noted that although about half of the 123,289 convenience stores selling gasoline are “branded” outlets, they are typically not owned by the refiner associated with the respective brand.

In fact, when considering the top five integrated oil companies, the report noted these major oil companies own less than 0.4% of all convenience stores in the United States.

The top branded retail outlets for all retailers in 2011 were (Source: National Petroleum News’ Market Facts 2012):

  • Shell (14,000 sites)
  • BP America, including ARCO (11,300)
  • Chevron (8,000)
  • ExxonMobil (7,753)
  • ConocoPhillips (6,875)

The report concluded, noting alternative fueling stations are growing across the continental U.S. – about 8,000 stations, or about 5% of all fueling outlets now offer access to alternative fuels.

A breakdown of the alternative fuel offerings include (Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Alternative & Advanced Vehicle Data Center, as of March 27, 2012):

  • Electricity (2,634 sites)
  • Propane (2,465)
  • E85 (2,271)
  • Compressed Natural Gas (447)
  • Liquefied Natural Gas (19)
  • Hydrogen (5)

Fiedler Group has been a leader in fuel design for 55 years.

Contact us today to learn more on how the Fiedler Group team can help your next fuel site design.