Ron Planting Quotations

It all starts with Hurricane Katrina. We lost about 10 percent of our U.S. refining capacity. We've taken a major hit. Distributors are having to pay more for their supplies.

We obviously have had a reduction in the ability to produce gasoline. And the market is at work. You can see it at wholesale, (and) you can see it in retail.

There have been some improvements since the first days after the hurricane. Some of the refineries that were down are up and running, but four are not.

The nice thing about Nigeria crude is its high-quality crude.

Eighty-five to 90 percent of retailers are independent businesses. They set their own prices. I can guess what they do. They make their own decisions. If you're looking at what you know is a tight market, you can see that one approach is to make sure you can pay for it by charging more before it is delivered.

The basic aim is to be more competitive, and I think that helps improve the situation for consumers. If they had to sell it all at one price, it would tend to be a higher price.