$0 doubled is still $0

I dont think it is an issue of supply & demand of the Hess gas stations.. Serving 1.3M customers a day is a lot but more of Hess changing its strategy to become an 'oil exploration & production firm'. The government, in its 'All of the Above' energy strategy will add additional monies to its current oil industry subsidies to support the oil exploration & production.

Johnny Done it: Why, thats everyones question, Gas retailers assc. of New Jersey everbody friend, especially their pocket book.

Exactly!!! So many people all the time think we are "SAVING" money with cut, cut, cut, cut. mentality. Well they have done that and what do we have? Unemployment,underemployment, forced retirement, lackluster sales, inflationary prices, and crime. I am sick and tired of everything being cut. We have a society that doesn't want to deliver real mail - only junk - doesn't want to pick up trash - doesn't want to pave roads,doesn't want to provide medical or pension benefits, hell now we have nurses who won't give CPR, and a big nobody gives a damn attitude. I am sick of it. We should pick a day any day of the month say the third of every month and just not buy ANYTHING. No gas, no food, no frills no anything. Consumers would show the 1% who is boss. We could call it a # 3 Blackout.

Our demand has nothing to do with the local price at this point ,the world is awash with liquidly (US dollars) thanks to all the printing our government does ( even the 85 billion $ sequester does nothing to help) ...if you look at gas priced in silver it's still at about 20 cents a gallon ....Our dollar is a fiat currency backed by nothing but the paper it's printed on ..

Doubt they will be vacant but perhaps taken over by another gas company

Just like the ones in Middletown and Shrewsbury

Maybe Hess will have a going out of business sale on gasoline???

What, it's the EPA's fault that Hess polluted sites for decades, and then is too damned cheap to clean up after themselves?

Hear, hear

Except they're not refining oil anymore either. Of course, since they're not refining, it makes no sense to sell at retail. It's been all downhill for them since Leon died.

So they just go after leases and drill? Or be a competent version of BP and take on risky operations (i.e. deep water)?

I agree with Jeff. We can not do away with the ENVIROMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY . Where will all of us live after it is uninhabitable here on earth? If we are even alive. Mars, Jupiter ? Is that why all the exploration is being done for other planets? Watch PBS and you may learn something.

truer words have never been spoken about either company and experience.

Maybe Wawa will buy some of them. Their employees speak English.

Seems like alot of the Lukoil stations shut down too. I see alot of old empty Lukoil stations around OC.

I will miss Hess stations. It's the only place I ever go for gas. All of the attendants were either young kids or older men and all speak English!

So why is it in NYC (specifically Queens and Bklyn), HESS is far and away the cheapest gas using a credit card purchase?

that's a good thing, since Valero is a US company.

Downtown: Well I have a clue about economics so here is the real story: US gasoline prices are directly influenced by the price of Brent Crude. Brent in turn is influenced by the European economy. Europe is in a recession with 12% unemployment and demand is now falling for gasoline. This has all pushed the Euro lower against the dollar which in turn will push gasoline prices lower. Just wait, expect retail gasoline prices to FALL by as much as 10% by summer.

Who is Brent Crude? He sounds like a jerk.

I'm pretty sure Brent Crude was a "Greaser" from Wildwood.

pualie is forgeting one very very important fact - you need to keep the crazy arabs under control also.

Brent Crude ...was he a linebacker for the Jets ?

Valero is an American company.

Really. All middle east owners/operators. So who owns CITGO Petroleum? Go to:
http://www.citgo.com/Home.jsp to find a station near you!

Oil is harder to come by, it's just a fact. Every easy drilling operation is dry or close to it. The new opportunities are all challenging - oil sands, deepwater, etc.

Deep water drilling is a great opportunity, but the technology and reliability just doesn't make it worth it (from a profit and PR standpoint). Ask BP, the gulf catastrophe set their company back years. They were doing those operations because they were desperate, not because they were good at it. Who wants to follow in their footsteps unless they can develop a better way of doing it that minimizes risk?

Same for Arctic drilling. Sounds easy, but existing techniques and technological limitations make it hard. Ask Shell, they just quit because they were not up to the challenge.

If an oil company wants to make even bigger profits (not that they aren't already reaping in historic revenues), it needs to drill hard-to-get oil in a safe and low-risk manner. That means technology and innovation. So maybe Hess knows what it's doing.

Just a theory.

(a) you dont get to know "why" there is no "why" it is a for profit venture - the owners or their proxy decided they no longer wanted to engage in.

(b) there is plenty of oil. Hess is still in the business of oil. The problem is that refining oil into gasoline and selling it at the wholesale and retail level is not that profitable due to all of the tree huggers and enviro-terrorist wackos and this illegal administration. Forget the fact that the guy was born in kenya for a minute - he doesnt even believe that they congress needs to pass laws! He thinks he is the king and can just rule by decree - look what he is trying to do with the cap and trade nonsense. Everyone knows that it is a ridiculous theory and the congress and senate will not pass the laws that the kenyan and his enviro terrorists want so he thinks he can do it himself. Hopefully he will be tried for war crimes and thrown in a kenyan prison.

I was responding to Ross, and that was a joke. I meant no offense and had zero issue with your rationale, although China also influences the price and did so today.

And I'm not sure that exploration is a bad business to get into, for the reasons I noted plus many others none of us are privy to.