The oil market started 2025 with a lot of moving parts—a new administration, tariffs, world issues in flux and OPEC+ playing its usual games in the market.
According to the NACS State of the Industry Report of 2024 Data, in 2024, fuel remained the largest contributor to total store sales; however, its share declined year over year due to a lower average fuel price, resulting in a 1.5 percentage point decrease.
Meanwhile, EVs are ramping up adoption and gaining market share faster than chargers are being installed, spurring retailers to consider if now is the right time to capitalize on the growing demand—or if not now, when.
Additionally, gasoline demand appears to be declining, especially when compared to pre-pandemic levels, and several refineries are slated to shut down in 2025.
With the fuel market experiencing pressure from all sides that could impact marketplace dynamics, two NACS State of the Industry Summit sessions investigated how retailers can navigate pricing, demand and implementation of both traditional fuel and electric vehicle chargers.
The “Fuels Deep Dive” session, presented by Denton Cinquegrana, the chief oil analyst at OPIS, lived up to its title. April got underway with OPEC boosting its monthly production from 130,000-140,000 barrels per day to over 400,000 barrels per day. That should cause oil prices to drop, but at the expense of domestic fracking, which requires higher oil prices for profitable production.
Continue reading this story in the June 2025 issue of NACS Magazine: “Keeping Up With the Fast-Moving Fuel Market.”
Want to know more about fuels and how other categories performed in 2024? The NACS State of the Industry Report of 2024 Data is available for purchase.