By Samantha Oller, Senior Editor/Fuels, CSP
LAS VEGAS — More than a decade ago, major oil companies largely exited the retail business in the United States, as upstream profits dwarfed downstream retail opportunities. One of those global oil giants—Royal Dutch Shell, The Hague, Netherlands—has since amassed a massive network of 43,000 branded sites in 80 countries, including 14,000 in the United States. These U.S. locations are operated solely by Shell-branded marketers and dealers, but soon, they will be joined by Shell itself.