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Home > Glossary of Terms
Glossary of Terms
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
- Ad-Valorem Tax
- An indirect tax that is expressed as a percentage of the price of a
commodity, e.g., Goods and Services
Tax (GST), Provincial
Sales Tax (PST) and
Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).
- Agency
- A mode of operation for a gasoline retail outlet where the outlet operator
acts as an agent for the company that supplies the branded product.
The supplier determines prices.
- Ancillary Services
- Services provided by a retail gasoline outlet in addition to the sale
of petroleum products, such as convenience stores, car washes and
fast-food outlets.
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- Bulk Plant
- A storage facility used in the wholesale segment of the industry comprised
of small- to medium-capacity tanks.
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- Competition Act
- Administered by the Competition Bureau, this Act
includes provisions against price fixing, price maintenance and abusive behaviour
by a dominant firm resulting in a lessening of competition. All of its provisions
apply to gasoline and other petroleum products markets. The Bureau's role is
to protect competition in the marketplace so that Canadians can benefit from
competitive prices, product choice and quality service.
- Consumers
- People who purchase products made by a producer.
- Coking
- A refining process for thermally converting and upgrading heavy residual
into lighter products and by-product petroleum coke.
- Crack Spreads
- Price per litre of wholesale gasoline over the price per litre of crude
oil.
- Cracking
- A refining process under which heavy molecular weight hydrocarbons
are broken up into lighter hydrocarbon molecules by the application
of heat and pressure, with or without the use of catalysts.
- Crude Oil
- A flammable liquid that occurs naturally
in deposits, usually beneath the surface of the earth. It is the raw
material from which petroleum products such as gasoline, heating oil,
jet fuel, propane, petrochemicals, and other products are manufactured.
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- Dealer
- A generic term referring to a retail outlet operator. There are several
different modes of operation used, including company owned, commission retailer, lessee
operator, independent branded and independent non-branded.
- Downstream
- The segment of the oil industry involved in refining and/or marketing
of petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, lubricants,
etc.
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- Excise Tax
- A federal or provincial tax on retail gasoline purchased by consumers,
established at a certain level of cents per litre. An excise tax is a
flat tax.
- Ex-Tax Pump Price
- The retail price of gasoline, excluding all taxes.
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- Grade Differential
- The difference between the price of regular unleaded gasoline and premium
or mid-grade gasoline.
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- Independent Marketer
- A retail petroleum operator who is not involved in the refining of
petroleum products, and therefore must purchase its supply of petroleum
product.
- Integrated Oil Company
- A fully integrated oil company is involved in the upstream (i.e.,
exploration and production) and downstream (i.e., refining, marketing,
distribution and retailing)
segments of the industry. A partially integrated oil company is involved
in all aspects of the downstream segment only.
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- Lessee
- The operator leases the retail outlet from the product supplier.
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- Majors
- Multinational and national integrated oil companies (Imperial Oil, Shell
and Petro-Canada).
- Market Share
- Volume of gasoline sold by one company divided by the total volume of
gasoline sold in a particular market.
- Marketer
- See Retailer.
- Marketer's Margin
- See Retail Margin.
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- Outlet
- Generic term referring to a retail gasoline station.
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- Petroleum
- A generic term for all the naturally occurring hydrocarbons, including
natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, and bitumen.
- Pump Price
- Unless qualified, the self-serve pump price for regular
unleaded gasoline (RUL).
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- Raw Material
- The basic material needed to make something. Crude
Oil is the raw material needed for gasoline.
- Rack
- Refers to the wholesaling of gasoline products. Unqualified, the term
refers to the wholesaling of gasoline products from a bulk plant or terminal
location. Qualified as "at the gate rack," the term refers to the wholesale
purchase of gasoline products at the refinery.
- Rack Point
- The point where refined product can be purchased at the rack price to
non-refiner suppliers/marketers.
- Rack Price
- The posted wholesale price of gasoline.
- Refined
- The process of purifying raw materials in making the
final product.
Crude Oil is refined into petroleum products such as gasoline.
- Refiner
- An organization that produces a range of petroleum products from crude
oil suitable for consumer usage.
- Refiner's Margin
- The difference between the wholesale price of gasoline and the price
of crude oil, the amount that a refiner receives to cover its operating
costs.
- Regionals
- Regional integrated oil companies (Ultramar, Sunoco, Irving, Husky, Chevron,
Parkland, Federated Co-op and Arco).
- Retail Margin (Gross)
- The difference between the cost to acquire product at wholesale and the
selling price of the product at retail, exclusive of taxes. Usually expressed
on a per-unit basis, for example, in cents per litre.
- Retailer
- An organization that sells gasoline to end-users.
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- Supplier
- An organization that supplies end product to retailers.
- Supply and Demand
- In economic terms, the price of a product is determined
by the amount of the product available and the demand by consumers for it.
Usually if there is more demand for a product than available product the
price will increase.
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- Tankwagon
- Tractor trailer used for short-haul delivery from a bulk plant or terminal
to a retail outlet.
- Terminal
- Storage facility used in the wholesale segment of the industry, usually
comprised of a gathering of large-capacity tanks.
- Throughput
- The volume of petroleum sold at a retail outlet in a given period, usually
expressed in litres per month or per year.
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- Upstream
- The segment of the oil industry involved in the exploration and/or production
of crude oil.
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