Petroleum & Petroleum Products Wholesalers Industry Profile

Companies in this industry store, transport, and distribute wholesale petroleum and petroleum products, including liquefied petroleum gas. Major US companies include Equinor, Global Partners, Mansfield Oil Company of Gainesville, Inc, Sunoco, and World Fuel Services.

The global petroleum industry processes about 90 million barrels of crude oil each day, according to Statista. The US and China have the largest refining industries, together accounting for a significant amount of global capacity. Other leading countries include Russia, India, Japan, and South Korea.

The US petroleum wholesale distribution industry includes about 6,500 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with annual revenue of about $1 trillion. Variations in the prices of crude oil and refined products can cause revenue for distributors to fluctuate significantly.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand for petroleum comes mainly from auto and truck use and home heating. Profitability is determined by the efficiency of operations. Most companies are local and operate a single "bulk station" (tank farm), although the large companies may operate a dozen facilities and serve several states. Large wholesale purchasers generally can negotiate bigger price discounts from suppliers and spread the cost of bulk holding facilities over a larger number of gallons. The US industry is concentrated: the 50 largest companies generate about 80% of revenue.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Products include refined petroleum (about 70% of US industry revenue), crude oil (about 20%), lubricating oil (about 10%), and liquefied petroleum (less than 5%). Diesel ...