Falling profits: Gas station operators say high prices are hurting them too

Fuel profits fall as prices rise Gas prices have been a burden for drivers, but some gas retailers say a number of factors are impacting their profits.

Despite some small relief for Nova Scotia gas prices this weekend, they remain higher than most people are used-to.

And while some may be tempted to think higher prices are a windfall for gas station operators, they say that's not true at all, and there are a number of factors eating-away at their profits.

"You know, the cost of the fuel: we have to buy that in advance, and so our investment is considerably more than it was three months ago," said Wayne Pace, past president of the Nova Scotia Retail Gasoline Dealers Association and the operator of an Esso station in Tantallon.

While customers are showing remarkable patience, he said, higher prices don't mean higher profits for him and other owners.

"And we don't make any more money on it than we did when it was a $1.00, $1.15 a litre," he said.

Pace says business is down significantly since prices took off — disappointing because operators were looking-forward to a busy, post-Covid-19 travel season.

Regulated prices in Nova Scotia include a small surcharge  introduced last June to help struggling operators when a lot of people stopped driving.

Now down to 0.3 cents a litre, it was three times that amount in the beginning, but it's been whittled-down over time.

Operators, though, say there's another factor eating-away at profits at the moment.

"Our credit card fees are based on percentage," said Pace.

"So, we pay 2 per cent of credit card fees. So, if you buy 100 litres of fuel, and it's a dollar a litre, that's $100, so our fee on a credit card would be $2.00. Now, that it's almost $2.00 a litre, our fees are almost double, but our profit is the same," he said.

In the end, there are only two winners, Pace says — the refiners, and the government.

"The government's enjoying it because they make 15 per cent."

"And 15 per cent of $2.00 is a lot more than 15 per cent of $1.00."