Fuel Pricing for Large Buyers: Atlas Oil’s Approach

For dozens of industries, fuel is a core operating cost. It’s also notoriously hard to forecast.

In 2022, intraday price swings of more than $0.10 per gallon occurred on 79 of the year’s 260 trading days.^[1] That volatility translates into millions of dollars in added costs—and, in many cases, the difference between profitability and being in the red.

A “wait-and-see” approach to procurement doesn’t hold up in this market. Companies need to forecast expenses, set budgets, and lock in pricing for customers, even as fuel prices move by the day. That’s where Atlas Oil comes in.

Atlas combines a dedicated team, market tools, and physical infrastructure to actively manage price risk. With contracts tailored to each customer’s operating and budget needs, Atlas helps businesses limit exposure to volatility and plan costs with confidence.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

How Atlas Neutralizes Volatility Before It Reaches Customers

Many businesses take incremental steps to manage fuel volatility, like a trucking fleet introducing a surcharge program. But in today’s market, those measures only go so far. Managing volatility requires real physical and financial infrastructure—the kind Atlas, an integrated energy leader, provides.

This starts with physical storage. Atlas maintains 3.9 million barrels of refined product across its network. This physical inventory allows the company to meet demand without relying on spot-market purchases. With robust product on hand, Atlas has helped insulate many customers from regional supply disruptions and related price movement.

Another key capability is market management. Atlas’s dedicated Risk and Product Supply Management team monitors commodities markets in real time. Using financial tools, they manage exposure to price swings and avoid unhedged market risk. This supports budget stability for customers without relying on speculative pricing.

Supply access completes the picture. Atlas has direct partnerships with leading global refineries, including Marathon, BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil. These ratable agreements provide priority access to fuel, even during periods of extreme market tightness. The result is steady supply for customers, without the need to renegotiate contracts.Each of these capabilities may seem straightforward—but it’s their combination, delivered at scale, that differentiates Atlas.

Tailored Pricing: Aligning Procurement with Operations

With its supply chain secured, Atlas can offer a range of pricing structures tailored to each customer’s risk tolerance and operational needs. These generally fall into three primary contract types:

• Fixed Price: These agreements are the gold standard for budget predictability. They allow organizations to lock in a fixed price over a period typically ranging from one to 18 months. For a construction firm with fixed-bid projects or a government agency operating under a strict annual budget, this insurance-style approach helps protect project margins—even if diesel prices rise by $0.50 in a single month.

• Indexed Pricing: For buyers who want to remain tethered to the market, Atlas offers indexed rates tied to benchmarks like OPIS or Platts. This eliminates the guesswork of local rack pricing and ensures the buyer benefits immediately from market downturns while paying a predictable, auditable differential.

• Trigger Pricing and Customized Strategies: Atlas offers more flexible pricing tools, leveraging advanced risk-management tools such as volume-based triggers and seasonal or strip futures. A trigger contract allows buyers to set a target price and automatically lock in their rate when the market reaches it. These programs offer volume flexibility, letting organizations adjust fuel needs up or down without being locked into rigid terms.

Cost Certainty Where It Matters Most

Fuel isn’t just another line item. For heavy fleets and industrial operators, it’s often the second-largest expense after labor, accounting for up to 50 percent of total marginal costs.^[2]

When prices surge, margins and cash flow shouldn’t be at risk. With Atlas, they aren’t. By controlling the product from source to site, Atlas helps customers plan around volatility—so price swings aren’t a shock to budgets, margins, or cash flow.

To learn more about Atlas, read The Atlas Difference: Inside a National Leader’s Fuel Supply Network,  which takes a closer look at the company’s capabilities across sourcing and logistics. 

^[1] https://www.breakthroughfuel.com/blog/diesel-fuel-volatility-shrinks-shippers-budgets/

^[2] https://www.fleetio.com/blog/trucking-cost-analysis