View free White Papers from OPISnet.com. http://whitepapers.opisnet.com en-us 60 © 2008 OPISnet.com. Mon, August 25, 2008 12:00:00 EDT Thu, August 28, 2008 10:48:38 EDT http://whitepapers.opisnet.com http://whitepapers.opisnet.com/images/OPIS/rss.gif View free White Papers from OPISnet.com. For decades, petroleum marketers have focused on site rationalization, convenience store products and facility image as the key factors growing throughput per site and revenues per customer. The most successful retailers have proven that a unique facility image is the first step towards gaining brand recognition, customer loyalty and retail sales traffic right at the street level. Now, recent advances in materials technology allow retailers to reach a 3rd dimension of facility branding and design, converting common place rectilinear designs with colorful, eye-catching, 3 dimensional curvilinear canopies and facility architecture. As a result, gas station owners small and large have an unprecedented ability to differentiate their facility image in ways that clearly distinguish their brand of gas from all others in the market, resulting in higher brand recognition rates, higher brand loyalty and higher traffic flow with petroleum and convenience customers. 12 pages http://whitepapers.opisnet.com/ViewSurvey.aspx?survey=29&whitepaper_id=38 Mon, August 25, 2008 12:00:00 EDT FormaShape Blending of diesel and biodiesel at oil terminals presents handling challenges, especially in colder climates. This study by the Biodiesel Cold Flow Consortium provides guidelines for proper temperatures above the biodiesel cloud point for achieving a successful blend. Using both qualitative information and quantitative data, the study offers operating parameters for splash and proportional blending of biodiesel with No. 1 and No. 2 diesel fuel at a variety of temperatures to prepare 2 volume percent biodiesel blends. Tests included soy, yellow grease and tallow biodiesel. 22 pages http://whitepapers.opisnet.com/DisplayWhitepaper.aspx?whitepaper_id=39 Mon, August 25, 2008 12:00:00 EDT National Biodiesel Board Widening ethanol use in gasoline as a result of larger government mandates is causing important changes in the U.S. petroleum supply chain. New bulk ethanol supply markets are emerging, new blendstocks are being produced, a new compliance system to track ethanol and other biofuel use is in place (RINs), ethanol-gasoline price relationships are shifting and U.S. biofuel policy itself could change. Issues relative to compliance will likely arise; even the smallest links in the oil supply chain need to pay attention. This white paper by OPIS Publisher and chief oil analyst Tom Kloza and Senior News Editor Beth Heinsohn provides a basic roadmap to the new developments, complete with OPIS graphs and pricing data to help downstream petroleum supply professionals navigate the changed landscape. 18 pages. http://whitepapers.opisnet.com/ViewSurvey.aspx?survey=23&whitepaper_id=31 Mon, June 09, 2008 12:00:00 EDT FuelQuest The highest prices ever for Winter gasoline translated into pain at the pump for most U.S. fuel marketers. OPIS has compiled retail data from the first quarter of 2008 to give you a comprehensive look at the struggle marketers have faced early this year. The violent price swings that plagued the industry for most of 2007 are still in place, and margins are getting tighter all across the country. With recaps of average regional margins as well as best and worst margins by brand and metro, use this free report sponsored by PetroProperties & Finance as a gauge for how your company stacks up in this volatile industry. 4 pages. http://whitepapers.opisnet.com/DisplayWhitepaper.aspx?whitepaper_id=26 Fri, April 25, 2008 12:00:00 EDT PetroProperties & Finance The volatility of oil prices hitting the downstream petroleum market challenges jobbers and wholesalers to perform multiple, complex calculations daily to determine the best prices available to them for the complicated slate of gasoline and diesel fuels. Fuel buyers still using manual methods such as phone calls and spreadsheets for monitoring rack and contract prices to perform best buy calculations suffer serious disadvantages. Software/Internet systems give jobbers and wholesalers superior tools that automate collection, calculation and comparison of prices plus price notification to their customers – as shown by four scenarios and two case studies in this White Paper. 10 pages. http://whitepapers.opisnet.com/ViewSurvey.aspx?survey=18&whitepaper_id=18 Mon, March 10, 2008 12:00:00 EDT Axxis Software