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  3. Graham Mansfield is head of downstream operations at the UK oil company Apos Oil. The downstream end of the business, which incl

Graham Mansfield is head of downstream operations at the UK oil company Apos Oil. The downstream end of the business, which incl

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问题    Graham Mansfield is head of downstream operations at the UK oil company Apos Oil. The downstream end of the business, which includes the refining of petroleum products and their subsequent sale to retail customers, operates within a relatively short-term timescale. In contrast, the upstream end of the business, which is concerned with the exploration and extraction of oil, takes a long view of technology and the environment that may stretch over several decades.
   Mansfield says of his side of the business. "At the refining and retail end we are constantly struggling to make a profit. Margins are tight and competition is fierce. Having said that, aspects of this business do demand a range of management expertise. Knowing what rivals are charging for fuel at petrol stations, which oil products investment funds are buying and how sales respond to the weather are all a vital part of the job. Of course we don’t work on such a long timescale as the extraction side of operations, so there’s a lot less forward planning. "
   But there may be tougher times ahead. "Ten years ago, Apos’ target return on capital for the refining and retail end of the business was about 15% , and it was difficult to reach that figure then," says Mansfield. "Today, we’re only seeing larger returns because we invested in some oil refineries at a low point in the market and we’ve been enjoying the margins from that increased production. " However, because the refinery business generally has become so profitable, it is set to attract new investment, and the global capacity for refining oil is expected to rise enormously. The result, according to analysts, is that the refining margins currently enjoyed by oil companies could become a thing of the past.
   One strategy that cannot save the industry during an economic downswing is getting further into general retailing. Mansfield says, "Ten years ago, the downstream industry thought it could save itself by selling more food at its petrol stations. It was generally profitable, depending on which locations you looked at. But selling fuel was really the area we knew something about. Differentiating our existing products, and constantly changing what was on offer—that was the key. "
   However, the possibility of global overproduction of oil has made Apos think carefully about further expansion plans. "National oil companies are on the move," says Mansfield. "They’re currently announcing additional capacity. Our economics are very different from those of the national oil companies, so we won’t grow as aggressively as they do. We’ve identified a country where we’d like to have oil refining capacity, though, so we’ll work hard on establishing that. The USA is also building refineries, which we’ve been part of, and we’ll be doubling our capacity at one of our existing refineries there. We can do that without a huge financial outlay. "
What does Mansfield say about the company’s previous food retail business?
选项 A、It could not make sufficient sales.
B、It was outside their area of expertise.
C、It did not offer enough variety of goods.
D、It was hard to find outlets at appropriate sites.
答案C
解析
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