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under the Renewable Fuel Standard involving biofuels, Drevna said. Oil prices have risen recently because of concerns about the future of Iranian oil production, increased oil demand in developing nations and the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar, Drevna said. "Historically, the best mechanism available to address high crude oil pric- es has been to take actions to increase the global crude oil supply," Drevna said. "When America has taken such actions in the past, it has sent a mes- sage to the market that our country is serious about meeting our energy and national security needs." Drevna said U.S. exports of refined petroleum products -primarily diesel fuel because there is an excess domestic supply -are benefitting American con- sumers. He pointed out that America imports about 60 percent of the crude oil the nation needs and is not a net exporter of gasoline. "Exports don't raise gasoline pric- es," Drevna said. "Rather, exports bring billions of dollars to America, preserve and create jobs, strengthen our economy and reduce our trade deficit. In fact, in allowing domestic refiners to run at higher utilization rates, exports are likely keeping con- sumer costs from rising further. If all American manufacturers and agricul- tural interests were prohibited from exporting their products, they would produce less -and that could actually raise consumer prices." AFPM, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (for- merly known as NPRA, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association) is a trade association representing U.S. manufacturers of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, other fuels and home heating oil, as well as petrochemicals used as building blocks for thousands of vital products in daily life. AFPM members make modern life possible and keep America moving and growing as they meet the needs of our nation and local communities, strengthen economic www.npnweb.com n NPN Magazine and national security, and support 2 million American jobs. n Research: Convenience stores growing their foodservice business Overall convenience-store foodservice sales grew to $11.5 billion in 2011 from $10.2 billion in 2007, based largely on expansion of foodservice items, addi- tional stores adding foodservice and more foodservice experience, reported research and consulting firm Technomic, based in Chicago. The number of stores with dedicated foodservice personnel nearly doubled over the same four-year period, from 17 to 33 percent, reflecting operators' commitment towards devel- oping successful foodservice programs, Technomic said. Technomic found that average unit volumes for convenience stores offer- ing prepared food and dispensed bev- erages ("true foodservice") jumped to more than $136,000 in 2011, up from $123,000 in 2007. The better- than-10-percent growth rates were based on roughly the same number of stores offering foodservice, indicat- ing that operators are becoming better at foodservice expansion and execu- tion, Technomic said in a press release posted on its web site. "Convenience store foodservice has made tremendous inroads in terms of experience, consumer choices and execution," said Tim Powell, direc- tor of convenience-store programs for Technomic. "We expect several key trends, such as snacking and demand for various beverages and breakfast to be pivotal components of future growth," he added. Powell said that Technomic expects annual convenience-store foodservice growth to reach 3.4 percent nominally through 2014, compared to 2.8 percent over the past four years. This exceeds expected growth for the entire foodser- vice industry, which is forecast at a nomi- nal 2.5 percent annually through 2014. These and other findings are included in Technomic's multi-client study, "Outlook and Opportunities in Convenience Store Foodservice," which was released on February 20. The research examines the total size and growth of the convenience-store foodservice channel, provides insights on consumer and operator attitudes and behaviors, profiles the top con- venience-store foodservice providers, and explores the impact of other chan- nels, such as drug stores and quick-ser- vice restaurants. n GE and Chesapeake Energy Corporation announce collaboration GE and Chesapeake Energy Corporation announced on March 7 a collaboration to develop infrastructure solutions that will help accelerate the adoption of natural gas as a transportation fuel. The companies noted in a statement that this technology and services project marks a significant milestone toward increasing energy inde- pendence in the United States through the increased use of natural gas—an abundant, reliable and cleaner-burning source of energy for both consumers and commercial users. To formalize the agreement, GE and Chesapeake have signed a memoran- dum of understanding on a product and services development partnership, representing a multi-year collaboration between the two companies to develop and bring to market compressed natu- ral gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation and natural gas home-fueling solutions. By improv- ing access to CNG, which is most commonly used in light- to medium- duty vehicles such as pickups, vans, SUVs, taxicabs, transit buses, refuse and delivery trucks as well as consumer vehicles, along with LNG, which is commonly used for heavy-duty indus- trial purposes, dependence on foreign energy sources can be reduced while simultaneously lowering fueling costs and vehicle emissions. The collaboration is designed to leverage GE's global Oil & Gas technol- ogy portfolio with Chesapeake's exper- MARCH 2012 7