Shopsmith Forums

I probably know but I need some global input to make sure.

What is happening to Shell Mobile. I have used a Shell card for about as long as I can remember buying gasoline. Yesterday I blindly pulled into a neighborhood Shell Station but the pump would not accept my credit card. As I walked into the station I noticed - "Wait, this is not a Shell Station". I looked around thinking I was losing it. Nope, I am in the station I thought I was. It is just no longer a Shell Station. It is now a Speedway. BUT when I went inside to get the pump activated I am told that I need to either apply for a new card (Speedway) or use a Mastercard/Visa.

I certainly do not understand this as a business decision. I just can not believe that Shell was losing money.

The oil industry is a volitile business. As oil production moves and changes around the world, the companies involved change too to maximize their profits.
Recently BP announced that they are selling their entire operation in Alaska and leaving that part of the world. Oil production in Alaska has stalled and is dropping so they move on to more profitable markets.
Shell is likely in similar situations.

I never use Shell ( in the past it caused problems) but I know many “named stations” ( Mobil, BP, Sunoco, Texaco, etc. ) have closed and reopened as Racetrack, Speedway, and other names. Plus we are getting names I never saw before like Wawa, Valero. The world is changing and to keep ahead of the change you almost have to read social media.

Every time my wife and I go out any more we say when did that building go up I do not remember it being there. Local stores and restaurants are opening and closing so fast and furious you almost have to call to see if the restaurant is still there and open.

Also, some stations are owned by the oil companies, but some are privately owned. The privately owned ones can change who they contract to buy from if a better offer comes along.

It is hard for me to believe that Shell is having financial difficulties or that they are getting out of the petroleum business but they certainly are no longer operation stations here in Tucson (there are a few, very few). Where the Shell Stations were, there is still a gas station but with a different name.

Now this has happened before. I was once a Texaco user but all my Texaco Stations have also gone away.

All the Marathon and SuperAmerica stations in my area (Minnesota) are now Speedway branded. It happened really quickly. It was on the local news one night and in a couple of weeks they'd changed over all the stations I drive by.

A neighbor of mine owns a number of convenience stores in southern Minnesota that also sell gas. He basically said that gas stations lose money or break even at best. Convenience stores sell gas to get customers to stop but they make almost no money on the gas sales and a single drive off will wipe out to or three days of gross profit on gas sales.

Super America (SA) in Minnesota is a brand name that is owned by Andeavor Corporation which was purchased by Marathon about a year ago. SA has been around since 1960.

A Quote from the Minneapolis Tribune ...
"Andeavor's retail system included more than 3,300 retail stations in 18 states operating under nine different brand names including ARCO, Exxon, Mobil, Conoco, Tesoro, Giant, USA Gasoline, Shell and SuperAmerica."

Your Shell Station may have been owned by Shell and sold, or they just had a license to use the name and now they're using a different one, or they were part of Andeavor and now part of Marathon.

I found this, it written back in April , not sure if it has anything to do with the issue ? https://fortune.com/2016/02/24/shell-shale-closing-us/

Here is another one that showed up when I googled it https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... in-nigeria , I use to buy a lot of shell gasoline when they were here , they moved from our town years ago ,it was all ways good clean burning gas.