Exxon Mobil Corp.\u2019s plans to dispose of the last 2,000-plus gas stations it owns reflects the movement by energy companies to monetize their real estate assets, industry experts say. \u201cReally what they\u2019re doing is taking the capital out of the land and investing it back into the company,\u201d explained Don Naughton, a Houston-based managing director for Grubb & Ellis Co. For the past several years, Naughton has represented Royal Dutch Shell in a similar program and has sold upwards of 500 Shell service stations. CB Richard Ellis Inc. is also marketing stations for Shell. Each Exxon Mobil station could command in the range of $1 million for the land alone, not counting additional costs for underground storage tanks, canopies, and other equipment, estimated Naughton. The world\u2019s biggest public energy company yesterday confirmed reports by the DallasMorning News and other media outlets that the last 800-plus stations it directly operates will go on the market, along with some 1,400 additional locations operated by distributors. Those locations will continue to use the Exxon Mobil name and sell the company\u2019s products. \u201cI think you\u2019re going to see that the program\u2019s going to take them a couple of years,\u201d Naughton said. Under federal law, Exxon Mobil must give each service station\u2019s dealer the right of first refusal when the station goes on the market. If the local owners decline, Exxon Mobil can then open the field to other bidders. In many cases, gasoline distributors–the local intermediaries–may acquire the stations, Naughton said. Exxon Mobil will follow in the footsteps of BP Plc as well as Royal Dutch Shell, which are also selling off their gas stations. The move came as no surprise, since high oil prices have squeezed the margins for service stations. Even the repeated jumps in retail gas prices have not allowed local retailers to keep up with skyrocketing oil prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Exxon Mobil Corp.\u2019s plans to dispose of the last 2,000-plus gas stations it owns reflects the movement by energy companies to monetize their real estate assets, industry experts say. \u201cReally what they\u2019re doing is taking the capital out of the land and investing it back into the company,\u201d explained Don Naughton, a Houston-based managing director…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003816431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n