BIG OIL SCREWS EVERYONE

Every time Sohaila Rezazadeh rings up a sale at her Exxon station on
Chain Bridge Road in Oakton, USA her cash register sends the information
to Exxon Mobil's central computers. If she raises the price of gasoline
a couple of pennies, chances are that Exxon will raise the wholesale
price she pays by the same amount. Through a password-protected Web
portal, Exxon notifies Rezazadeh of wholesale price changes daily. That
way the oil giant, which is earning about US$3.3 billion a month,
fine-tunes the pump prices at the franchise Rezazadeh has owned for 12
years.

Now, however, Rezazadeh says she cannot stay in business. Credit-card
fees are eating her profit margins. Exxon, which owns the station land,
last week handed Rezazadeh a new lease raising her rent about 30 percent
over the next three years. She stuck a copy on the window of her station
to show customers who are angry about soaring pump prices. Rezazadeh has
told Exxon that she cannot make money with the rent that high. Her
territory manager's reply, she said, was simple: "When you go, leave us
the keys..." - Washington Post