Gasoline Retail Market Share Report 2011.

Q1 2012: Shell #1 in Sales, Wawa Most Efficient & Chevron Highest Priced

“Top 10 Brands See Market Share Drop From 58.7% Last Year to 56.7% This Year”

Shell branded sites pumped more gasoline than any other brand in the country in the first quarter. According to data just released by OPIS, Shell's national market share of 15.07% was more than double second place BP, which scored 7.2% of all sales. Despite the number one finish, Shell saw its market share fall from 15.34% in the first quarter of 2011. Its efficiency rating (market share / outlet share) saw a year-on-year decline from 1.18 to 1.17 - an indication that per store throughputs were off by 1.31%.

BP retained it’s second place spot despite seeing its percentage of sales declining from 7.95% last year. BP’s outlet share dipped from 8.67% to 8.30% as some stations rebranded away from BP. The fact that outlet share was greater than market share and its efficiency rating was just 0.87 indicates that many of the sites are pushing low volumes. Of the Top 25 brands that sold the most volume, only Citgo, Marathon, Gulf, Texaco, Casey’s and Cenex had a lower efficiency rating.

Chevron came in at number three followed by Exxon, Valero, Mobil, Sunoco, Speedway, Citgo and 7-Eleven. Overall the Top 10 only saw two brands that had an increase in market share from last year. Sunoco and Valero both saw slight increases in volumes sold.

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Wawa was the efficiency king with a market share of 1.66% and an outlet share of just .28% for a score of 5.85. When compared to its direct competition, the average Wawa station priced its pumps 3.26 cts per gallon lower. In first quarter 2011, the Mid-Atlantic powerhouse was less aggressive with a price discount of just 2.93 cts per gal. Wawa’s market share jumped from 1.54% last year and should continue to increase as it expands into new markets.

QuikTrip had an efficiency score of 4.57 making it the second most efficient player of the Top 60 brands selling the most gas. Sheetz was third with a score of 4.40 followed by Get Go, Quick Check, Royal Farms, Speedway, Loves, Pilot and Spinx.

Chevron priced its pumps at the highest premium when compared to its direct competitors in the first quarter. A typical Chevron station on a given day was priced at a whopping 4.38 cts per gal above its direct competitors. In the first quarter of 2011, Chevron’s premium was just 3.45 cts per gal. The result was a drop in its efficiency rating from 1.27 to 1.26.

LukOil was the next highest priced brand when compared to its competition with a premium of 4.34 cts per gal, followed by Getty, Shell and Texaco. At the opposite end of the spectrum are the brands that price at the greatest discount. Costco was the undisputed leader pricing its pumps more than 12 cts under its competitors. Arco with an average discount of 11.1 cts per gal was next followed by Sam’s, BJ’s and Safeway.

In New England, Mobil had the largest market share with 21.3% of the volume, a drop of 2.03% from first quarter 2011. Mobil’s efficiency score was 1.43, the second best of the Top 10 leading sellers in the region just behind Hess. In that same group of ten, Hess was also the most aggressively priced with an average price discount of 2.91 cts per gal.

In the Mid-Atlantic, Sunoco had the greatest market share with 12.8% of all the volume sold - up from 12.3% in the same quarter last year. Exxon was number two despite market share dropping .5% followed by Wawa, Shell and Sheetz. Three brands in the region had efficiency ratings over 3.0 including Wawa, Sheetz and Get Go.

To order your copy of the Market Share Report for Q1 2012 go here.

Shell was the leader in the Southeast with a market share of 19% followed by BP, Chevron, Exxon and Hess. QuikTrip had the highest efficiency score with a rating of 6.23 followed by Sheetz.

The Great Lakes was lead by Speedway with a market share of 21.72%. Sheetz had the highest efficiency rating while Costco was the most aggressive on price with an average daily discount of 12.2 cts per gal.

In the Midwest, Casey’s led the pack selling 10.77% of the volume thanks to a year-on-year increase of .95%. QuikTrip had the greatest efficiency rating with a score of 4.36 while Costco and Sam’s Club were the most aggressive with price.

In the Southwest, Shell's year-on-year market share dropped from 20.37% to 19.46%, but it still was the market leader. Valero was next while Exxon, Chevron, QuikTrip and Phillips 66 rounded out the top five. Murphy USA was the most aggressive player of all brands with market share greater than 1% pricing its sites at an average 4.47 cts per gal under its competitors.

In the Rockies, Conoco’s market share of 18.88% was the best even though it was down from 18.90% in first quarter 2011. Maverik saw the largest year-on-year increase with market share jumping from 7.1% to 8.1%. Luvs was the most efficient brand with a market share to outlet share ratio of 2.84 followed by Kum & Go. Costco was the most aggressive with an average daily price discount against its competitors of 10.1 cts per gal.

The west coast was dominated by Chevron (note: OPIS gets prices for Arco, but it does not receive any volume information for the brand so it is not included in the calculations) which saw a market share of 32.8%. It was a slight increase from 31.8% from the prior year, helping its efficiency rating increase from 1.62 to 1.64. Shell had the second best market share followed by 76, Mobil and Valero.

Fred Rozell
OPIS Retail Pricing Director