Higher gasoline prices resulted in a slight decrease in
sales at Speedway convenience
stores in the fourth quarter of 2012, but sales are up so far in January
despite even higher prices.
In a conference call with investment analysts on Jan. 30, executives
of Marathon Petroleum, which owns the Speedway
chain, said the average pump price of gasoline in the fourth quarter of 2012
was $3.32, compared with $3.20 in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Same-store gasoline sales in the fourth quarter were down
two-tenths of 1 percent mainly because of price increases. January 2013 sales
show a slight increase over January.
In its earnings report for 2012, Marathon
said the average profit per gallon sold at Speedway
stores was 14.24 cents per gallon in the fourth quarter, up from 14 cents in
the fourth quarter in 2012. For all of 2012, the average profit was 13.18
cents, up from 13.08 cents in 2011.
Marathon is the primary supplier of
gasoline and other petroleum products to much of southern West
Virginia, including the Huntington
and Charleston markets.
Company officials also discussed, among other things, plans
for shipping crude oil and condensates from wells in the Utica
shale in eastern Ohio to the refinery
at Catlettsburg, Ky.,
near Huntington. Marathon
plans to invest more than $300 million on that program through 2014, said Don
Templin, senior vice president and chief financial officer.
Mike Palmer, senior vice president of supply, distribution
and planning, acknowledged that oil production from the Utica
shale has not met producers' expectations. Of 200 wells drilled, only 50 are
producing crude oil and condensates, although that number is expected to
increase by mid-year, Palmer said.
Overall, Marathon reported earnings
of $3.4 billion on revenues of $82.2 billion last year, up from $2.4 billion
earnings on $78.6 billion of revenue in 2011.
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