First Fuel Banks bills itself as the only retailer in the country where customers can buy gasoline for the future and hedge against rising prices. It advertises no service charge and no storage charge, just a $1 lifetime membership fee.
Here’s an idea that should be interesting for those who want to save money and those who want to start a business. The Associated Press is reporting that some people have purchased large amounts of gasoline ahead of time, when the cost was much lower than it is now. The gasoline is stored and maintain by this company, First Fuel Banks. You can retrieve gas from your reserve any time, and an identification card keeps track of how much you take.
As of now, the only place this type of service exists (according to my quick research) is Minnesota. I believe that with people afraid of prices increasing further, this would be a great business to start in other areas of the country. It has paid off well for those who purchased when gas was less than $1 per gallon, but even those who bought a large amount at $2 are saving a large amount of money now.
First Fuel Banks charges only a $1 lifetime membership fee. If you live near their fuel bank, how could you not sign up? If gas dips below the amount that somone paid for reserves, that person would simply buy from a regular tank until prices go back up over the purchase price.
Updated February 10, 2011 and originally published May 8, 2006. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
Rank: Platinum
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting concept. Will be fun to watch and see if it catches on…
According to the article, the most ever purchased in advance was $400,000 worth of gas. Even if you don’t use that much by the time in the future you no longer require gasoline, you could sell the remainder to someone (or some people) for a nice profit as prices increase.
This is really music to my ears … how to hedge against gas prices.