OPIS Margin Madness Sees Upsets As
Profits Sink In Some Markets

March and all its Madness may be best known for basketball,
but to petroleum retailers no tournament is more revered than
OPIS Margin Madness. This contest ranks the best and worst
markets in terms of their first quarter 2005 margins and has
them go head-to-head based on the year-to-date profits for
2006 until a best and worst market is crowned.

Nationally, gross year-to-date margins are better than what
they were in the first quarter last year, but some areas have
seen a tremendous downturn in fortunes.

WORST MARKET TOURNAMENT
Hit particularly hard were the Western Region markets.
Margins in the state of Washington are down more than
60%, and in Oregon, profits have plummeted from 14.7 cts
per gal in all of 2005 to just 1.8 cts per gal so far this year.
[However, most Oregon markets had strong margins in the
first quarter last year and did not qualify to enter the worst
market tournament.]

The Washington side of the Portland, Vancouver, OR-WA
market which generally sees lower margins than the Oregon
side because of higher taxes saw profits plunge deep into
the red. It entered the worst market tournament as a fourth
seed and had a very impressive run. Tacoma, another market
from the Evergreen State also saw profits slip into negative
territory. It entered the Worst tournament as a 5 th seed
and also made strong advances through the competition.

Decatur, IL which according to OPIS’ Pandemonium at the Pump
Report, had the absolute lowest margins in all of 2005 entered
the worst market tournament as a 1 seed, but was knocked
out in the final four. Two other number 1 seeds, Peoria-Pekin, IL
and Des Moines, IA, did not make it past the Sweet 16.

BEST MARKET TOURNAMENT
In the best market tournament two number 1 seeds were also eliminated in early rounds. Santa Fe, NM was knocked out in the
second round by the 8th seeded Hagerstown, MD and Santa
Barbara, CA was eliminated in the “Sweet 16” by Newark, NJ,
a 5th seed.

The OPIS Margin Madness tournament offers a glimpse of what
profits are doing so far this year. To get the big picture and most
in-depth, comprehensive details on retail profits, you should rely
on the OPIS Pandemonium at the Pump report. This 140-page
anthology is a scorecard of the entire supply chain. It ranks the
best and worst markets for all of 2005, it reveals historical trends,
and looks at brand performance both nationally and locally.

Also included is the special Brand Power Rankings Report, NYMEX,
price trends, spot prices, implied refining margins, DOE Statistics
back to 1994, a recap of the most influential Oil Express news stories
throughout 2005 and much, much more.

Best Market Tournament Results

Worst Market Tournament Results