Columbus, NE
#232 of 422 U.S. rack markets by terminals
- terminals
- 1
- pipeline systems delivering
- 2
- refineries in market
- 0
- refineries supplying market
- 3
- people in the trade area
- 78,745
- gal/day gasoline · estimated demand
- 109,763
- gal/day diesel · estimated demand
- 63,636
Terminals in this market
| Terminal | TCN | Location | Delivered by |
|---|---|---|---|
| NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | T-47-NE-3600 | Columbus, NE | NuStar Pipeline, Phillips 66 Pipeline |
Pipelines delivering to this market
Each system with a tariff delivery point at one of this market’s terminals, and how many running refineries can ship on it to here.
| Pipeline system | Terminals here | Delivery points | Refineries confirmed | All reachable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NuStar Pipeline | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Phillips 66 Pipeline | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Refineries that can supply this market
| Refinery | Location | Via | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borger Refinery (Phillips 66) | Borger, TX | Phillips 66 Pipeline | inferred (same city) |
| CHS McPherson Refinery | Mcpherson, KS | NuStar Pipeline | inferred (same city) |
| Phillips 66 Ponca City Refinery | Ponca City, OK | NuStar Pipeline | inferred (same city) |
Trade area
- people in the trade area · 2025 estimate
- 78,745
- rank of 422 rack markets by people
- #368
- gallons of gasoline a day · estimate, 2025
- 109,763
- gallons of diesel a day · estimate, 2025
- 63,636
- counties wholly in this market
- 0
- counties shared with other markets
- 22
| County | State | Share here | People counted here | Gasoline gal/day | Diesel gal/day | County population | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platte County | NE | 62% | 21,942 | 25,213 | 10,920 | 35,649 | 17 |
| Dodge County | NE | 37% | 13,990 | 17,714 | 7,008 | 38,057 | 32 |
| Colfax County | NE | 89% | 9,694 | 13,222 | 7,482 | 10,934 | 12 |
| Madison County | NE | 15% | 5,261 | 5,689 | 2,131 | 36,106 | 38 |
| Saunders County | NE | 21% | 4,887 | 6,080 | 3,320 | 23,702 | 34 |
| Butler County | NE | 54% | 4,587 | 8,548 | 5,430 | 8,507 | 16 |
| Cuming County | NE | 33% | 2,881 | 4,846 | 3,009 | 8,823 | 41 |
| Holt County | NE | 25% | 2,521 | 4,169 | 2,592 | 10,067 | 106 |
| Seward County | NE | 12% | 2,086 | 4,931 | 6,802 | 18,032 | 39 |
| Boone County | NE | 31% | 1,654 | 2,555 | 1,537 | 5,355 | 46 |
| York County | NE | 10% | 1,520 | 4,164 | 5,348 | 14,564 | 43 |
| Stanton County | NE | 24% | 1,351 | 2,262 | 1,315 | 5,744 | 32 |
| Merrick County | NE | 16% | 1,227 | 2,512 | 1,600 | 7,905 | 45 |
| Burt County | NE | 17% | 1,166 | 1,597 | 1,049 | 6,678 | 55 |
| Nance County | NE | 29% | 947 | 1,176 | 792 | 3,290 | 39 |
| Valley County | NE | 19% | 773 | 1,129 | 744 | 4,094 | 90 |
| Polk County | NE | 15% | 770 | 1,143 | 705 | 5,270 | 24 |
| Greeley County | NE | 21% | 458 | 859 | 563 | 2,154 | 67 |
| Garfield County | NE | 21% | 362 | 568 | 379 | 1,710 | 94 |
| Boyd County | NE | 20% | 331 | 515 | 293 | 1,674 | 128 |
| Wheeler County | NE | 22% | 174 | 516 | 405 | 789 | 74 |
| Keya Paha County | NE | 21% | 164 | 353 | 211 | 792 | 161 |
Fuel demand is an estimate: each state’s taxed gallons for the year (FHWA) are split among its counties by where the driving happens (EPA county vehicle miles, weighted by how much fuel each vehicle type burns), then shared to markets as above. Every state adds back to its FHWA total. Gasoline includes the ethanol blended into it; diesel is FHWA’s special fuels. Expect diesel to be least reliable along long-haul corridors, where trucks buy fuel in one county and burn it in another. Population: U.S. Census Bureau county estimates.
How good is it? Checked in October 2026 against the county retail sales Iowa and California publish: for gasoline, about 3–5% of gallons landed in the wrong rack market and a typical market was within 5–6%. For diesel, 14–21% landed in the wrong market and a typical market was 30–45% off, with truck-stop corridors such as Bakersfield and Stockton under-counted. Treat gasoline as a working estimate and diesel as a rough guide.
Cost to serve this market by pipeline
What it costs to move a gallon here from a supply origin at filed tariff rates: line-haul, the cost of financing the product on the way and in the tank, pipeline loss, and terminaling. It is a cost at filed rates, not a market price: add it to the origin spot price for a delivered cost. The figure shown is the lowest route that starts where product enters the pipeline system; where a second pipeline is needed to reach here, both are costed. Lines marked "estimate" are placeholders until the pipeline or terminal figure is on file; in the routes table, * marks a figure taken from the tariff.
Gasoline: product adder
- ¢/gal · product adder
- 7.72
- ¢/gal · line-haul tariff · published
- 6.33
- ¢/gal · carrying cost · calculated
- 0.58
- ¢/gal · pipeline loss · published
- 0.16
- ¢/gal · terminaling · published
- 0.66
- days financed
- 11.4
Route used: from Ponca City, OK on NuStar Pipeline to Columbus, NE (FERC No. 17.47.0 item 130).
How this adder is worked, line by line
| Line | ¢/gal | Basis | Source or working |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line-haul tariff | 6.327 | published | NuStar Pipeline FERC No. 17.47.0 item 130: Ponca City, OK → Columbus, NE, 265.74 ¢/bbl |
| Carrying cost | 0.579 | calculated | $3.120000/gal × 5.9200% ÷ 365 × 11.440 days (3.940 in transit, 2.50 waiting on the cycle, 5.00 in terminal inventory); transit estimated: 378 pipeline miles at 4.0 mph (general estimate) |
| Pipeline loss | 0.156 | published | NuStar Pipeline FERC No. 17.47.0 item 20, tender deduction: 0.05% of volume at $3.1200/gal = 6.55 ¢/bbl |
| Terminaling | 0.661 | published | NuStar Pipeline FERC No. 17.47.0 item Item 85: 27.77 ¢/bbl carrier terminal charge |
| Product adder | 7.723 | Sum of the lines above, over the origin spot price |
Every published route, lowest adder first (4 of 4). Origins are priced at the same index here. "Origin must be cheaper by" is how far below the price at the origin of the route used above a route's own origin price has to be before that route wins.
| Origin | Pipeline | Delivery point | Terminals | Line-haul | Carrying | Loss | Terminaling | Adder ¢/gal | Days | Origin must be cheaper by | Tariff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponca City, OK | NuStar Pipeline joint rate | Columbus, NE | NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | 6.33 | 0.58 | 0.16* | 0.66* | 7.72 | 11.4 | — | FERC No. 17.47.0 item 130 |
| McPherson, KS | NuStar Pipeline | Columbus, NE | NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | 6.46 | 0.51 | 0.16* | 0.66* | 7.79 | 10.1 | 0.06 | FERC No. 17.47.0 item 100 |
| Arkansas City, KS / Wichita, KS / El Dorado, KS / Conway, KS | NuStar Pipeline | Columbus, NE | NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | 6.70 | 0.53 | 0.16* | 0.66* | 8.05 | 10.5 | 0.33 | FERC No. 17.47.0 item 100 |
| Borger (Phillips 66 Borger refinery) | Phillips 66 Pipeline joint rate | Columbus, NE (joint via NuStar from Borger) | NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | 7.35 | 0.65 | 0.94* | 0.66* | 9.60 | 12.9 | 1.87 | FERC No. 7.14.0 item rate table |
Diesel: product adder
- ¢/gal · product adder
- 8.14
- ¢/gal · line-haul tariff · published
- 6.33
- ¢/gal · carrying cost · calculated
- 0.90
- ¢/gal · pipeline loss · published
- 0.24
- ¢/gal · terminaling · published
- 0.66
- days financed
- 11.4
Route used: from Ponca City, OK on NuStar Pipeline to Columbus, NE (FERC No. 17.47.0 item 130).
How this adder is worked, line by line
| Line | ¢/gal | Basis | Source or working |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line-haul tariff | 6.327 | published | NuStar Pipeline FERC No. 17.47.0 item 130: Ponca City, OK → Columbus, NE, 265.74 ¢/bbl |
| Carrying cost | 0.904 | calculated | $4.870000/gal × 5.9200% ÷ 365 × 11.440 days (3.940 in transit, 2.50 waiting on the cycle, 5.00 in terminal inventory); transit estimated: 378 pipeline miles at 4.0 mph (general estimate) |
| Pipeline loss | 0.244 | published | NuStar Pipeline FERC No. 17.47.0 item 20, tender deduction: 0.05% of volume at $4.8700/gal = 10.23 ¢/bbl |
| Terminaling | 0.661 | published | NuStar Pipeline FERC No. 17.47.0 item Item 85: 27.77 ¢/bbl carrier terminal charge |
| Product adder | 8.135 | Sum of the lines above, over the origin spot price |
Every published route, lowest adder first (4 of 4). Origins are priced at the same index here. "Origin must be cheaper by" is how far below the price at the origin of the route used above a route's own origin price has to be before that route wins.
| Origin | Pipeline | Delivery point | Terminals | Line-haul | Carrying | Loss | Terminaling | Adder ¢/gal | Days | Origin must be cheaper by | Tariff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponca City, OK | NuStar Pipeline joint rate | Columbus, NE | NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | 6.33 | 0.90 | 0.24* | 0.66* | 8.14 | 11.4 | — | FERC No. 17.47.0 item 130 |
| McPherson, KS | NuStar Pipeline | Columbus, NE | NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | 6.46 | 0.80 | 0.24* | 0.66* | 8.16 | 10.1 | 0.02 | FERC No. 17.47.0 item 100 |
| Arkansas City, KS / Wichita, KS / El Dorado, KS / Conway, KS | NuStar Pipeline | Columbus, NE | NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | 6.70 | 0.83 | 0.24* | 0.66* | 8.44 | 10.5 | 0.30 | FERC No. 17.47.0 item 100 |
| Borger (Phillips 66 Borger refinery) | Phillips 66 Pipeline joint rate | Columbus, NE (joint via NuStar from Borger) | NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | 7.35 | 1.02 | 1.46* | 0.66* | 10.49 | 12.9 | 2.35 | FERC No. 7.14.0 item rate table |
Inputs and assumptions behind these figures
- Product value (for carrying cost and loss only): the prior day's spot price. Gasoline: OilPriceAPI GASOLINE_RBOB_USD, 2026-10-26. Diesel: OilPriceAPI HEATING_OIL_USD, 2026-10-26. These are the New York Harbor futures benchmarks, not a Gulf Coast price.
- Interest rate: SOFR 3.92% (2026-10-23) + 2.0 points.
- Transit (estimate): straight-line miles between the tariff origin and delivery point × 1.15, at 4.0 mph unless the pipeline has its own figure.
- Days financed (estimate): transit, plus half a 5-day shipping cycle waiting to lift (once for each pipeline on a two-pipeline route), plus 5 days of stock at the terminal.
- Pipeline loss: the charge or volume deduction the tariff states, where it states one (marked *; a deduction is costed at the product value above). Otherwise an estimate of 0.10% of product value per pipeline, two for a joint rate; that includes pipelines that share out actual losses without publishing a figure, and tariffs that state no loss term.
- Terminaling: the carrier's terminal charge where its tariff states one (marked *), otherwise a flat 1.5¢/gal estimate.
- Which route sets the figure: the lowest one that starts at a supply origin. On Colonial that is Houston. A rate that starts part-way along a pipeline, or at a secondary origin, stays in the table but does not set the figure. Where a rate starts at a point another carrier delivers to, the first carrier's lowest rate into that point is added, with its loss and time in the pipe; terminaling is charged once. The same is done where one pipeline files the movement as two rates. Which origins are treated this way is our own review of each system, not a statement in a tariff.
- Rates used: each pipeline's ordinary filed rate. Committed, volume-tier, discount and bid rates are left out, as are conditional fees (shown on each pipeline page), additives, taxes and the value of line space.
- Assumption set in force from 2026-10-01; review by 2027-01-01.
Published line-haul rates, all products and rate types
- ¢/gal · cheapest gasoline · from Ponca City, OK on NuStar Pipeline
- 6.33
- ¢/gal · cheapest diesel · from Ponca City, OK on NuStar Pipeline
- 6.33
- ¢/gal · cheapest jet fuel · from Borger on Phillips 66 Pipeline
- 7.35
| Origin | Pipeline | Delivery point | Product | ¢/bbl | ¢/gal | Refineries at the origin | Tariff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ponca City, OK | NuStar Pipeline | Columbus, NE | gasoline, distillate | 265.74 | 6.33 | Phillips 66 Ponca City Refinery | FERC No. 17.47.0 item 130 |
| McPherson, KS | NuStar Pipeline | Columbus, NE | gasoline, distillate | 271.29 | 6.46 | CHS McPherson Refinery | FERC No. 17.47.0 item 100 |
| Arkansas City, KS / Wichita, KS / El Dorado, KS / Conway, KS | NuStar Pipeline | Columbus, NE | gasoline, distillate | 281.49 | 6.70 | FERC No. 17.47.0 item 100 | |
| Borger (Phillips 66 Borger refinery) | Phillips 66 Pipeline | Columbus, NE (joint via NuStar from Borger) | gasoline, distillate, jet fuel, lpg | 308.54 | 7.35 | Borger Refinery (Phillips 66) | FERC No. 7.14.0 item rate table |
Supply resilience
- pipeline supply
- Limited
- pipeline systems delivering
- 2
- terminals on two or more pipelines
- 1
- terminals with no pipeline tariff
- 0
Two pipeline systems deliver here: one can cover for the other where a terminal is on both.
If a pipeline system goes down
| Pipeline system | Terminals it reaches here | With no other pipeline | Which |
|---|---|---|---|
| NuStar Pipeline | 1 | 0 | |
| Phillips 66 Pipeline | 1 | 0 |
Counts pipeline systems with a tariff delivery point here, not capacity, storage or contracts. A system with two lines into the market still counts once, and a terminal with one pipeline may also receive by truck, rail or water. For a refinery or pipeline outage across every market it touches, open that facility’s page.
Delivered ethanol cost
- ¢/gal over Chicago ethanol · lowest in the market
- -10.10
- ¢/gal over Chicago ethanol · highest
- -10.10
An estimate for each terminal: the cheapest of published rail rates and trucking from the nearest plants, plus basis, transload, terminaling and carrying cost. Each terminal page shows the build-up line by line.
| Terminal | ¢/gal over Chicago | By | From | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. - Columbus, NE | -10.10 | truck | VCP Corn Processing (Columbus, NE) | 3 |
Nearby rack markets
Rack markets within 75 miles (straight line): where a buyer here could also lift.
| Rack market | Miles | Terminals | Pipelines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osceola, NE | 22 | 1 | 2 |
| Norfolk, NE | 46 | 1 | 2 |
| Lincoln, NE | 56 | 3 | 2 |
| Geneva, NE | 64 | 1 | 2 |
| Omaha, NE | 69 | 1 | 1 |
| Council Bluffs, IA | 74 | 3 | 3 |
Rates are pipeline line-haul transcribed from published FERC tariffs; every figure cites its tariff and item. Cost to serve (netback) adds origin spot price and destination fees. "Confirmed" links match a tariff delivery point to the facility; "same city" means the point is in the facility's city — plausible, not proof; "per research" means the facility's research profile names the pipeline as an outlet.