Rack market

Sauk Centre, MN

#232 of 422 U.S. rack markets by terminals

OPIS rack city 522 Gasoline & diesel Biodiesel Ethanol

terminals: 1
pipeline systems delivering: 1
refineries confirmed: 0
more per research or by route: 1
people in the trade area: 306,315
gal/day gasoline · estimated demand: 421,264
gal/day diesel · estimated demand: 160,383

Terminals in this market

Terminal	TCN	Location	Delivered by
Nustar - Sauk Centre Terminal	T-41-MN-3401	Sauk Centre, MN	NuStar 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	1

Refineries that can supply this market

Refinery	Location	Via	Link
Marathon Petroleum Mandan Refinery (formerly Tesoro Mandan Refinery)	Mandan, ND	NuStar Pipeline	per research

Trade area

people in the trade area · 2025 estimate: 306,315
rank of 422 rack markets by people: #274
gallons of gasoline a day · estimate, 2025: 421,264
gallons of diesel a day · estimate, 2025: 160,383
counties wholly in this market: 0
counties shared with other markets: 23

County	State	Share here	People counted here	Gasoline gal/day	Diesel gal/day	County population	Miles
Stearns County	MN	80%	132,026	169,445	74,059	164,110	22
Morrison County	MN	66%	22,863	37,839	11,906	34,620	39
Kandiyohi County	MN	51%	22,691	29,126	7,467	44,720	41
Crow Wing County	MN	31%	21,383	30,772	8,513	69,132	68
Todd County	MN	57%	14,912	19,207	8,197	26,060	23
Otter Tail County	MN	24%	14,369	20,848	8,650	61,041	58
Benton County	MN	34%	14,030	19,491	5,849	41,744	47
Cass County	MN	26%	8,081	12,662	4,320	31,430	89
Meeker County	MN	33%	7,886	9,728	3,060	23,603	48
Wadena County	MN	44%	6,299	7,151	2,414	14,388	58
Mille Lacs County	MN	23%	6,244	9,853	3,618	27,753	66
Hubbard County	MN	23%	5,181	7,364	2,454	22,369	94
Douglas County	MN	12%	4,838	7,905	3,481	40,120	27
Pope County	MN	42%	4,754	6,918	2,136	11,420	25
Swift County	MN	36%	3,538	4,914	1,678	9,763	47
Chippewa County	MN	27%	3,363	4,961	1,508	12,406	57
Stevens County	MN	34%	3,282	3,870	1,140	9,747	50
Renville County	MN	21%	3,058	5,424	1,823	14,356	70
Roberts County	SD	20%	2,066	4,462	3,113	10,255	96
Grant County	SD	24%	1,778	3,016	1,957	7,534	96
Grant County	MN	25%	1,538	3,398	2,009	6,085	52
Big Stone County	MN	29%	1,447	1,846	654	5,054	72
Traverse County	MN	22%	682	1,055	375	3,130	72

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 each pipeline 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. 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 · lowest adder: 7.83
¢/gal · line-haul tariff · published: 5.53
¢/gal · carrying cost · calculated: 0.47
¢/gal · pipeline loss · estimate: 0.33
¢/gal · terminaling · estimate: 1.50
days financed: 8.9

Lowest route: from West Fargo, ND on NuStar Pipeline to Sauk Centre, MN (FERC No. 16.32.0 item 160).

How the lowest adder is worked, line by line

Line	¢/gal	Basis	Source or working
Line-haul tariff	5.533	published	NuStar Pipeline FERC No. 16.32.0 item 160: West Fargo, ND → Sauk Centre, MN, 232.37 ¢/bbl
Carrying cost	0.471	calculated	$3.260000/gal × 5.9000% ÷ 365 × 8.945 days (1.445 in transit, 2.50 waiting on the cycle, 5.00 in terminal inventory); transit estimated: 139 pipeline miles at 4.0 mph (general estimate)
Pipeline loss	0.326	estimate	flat estimate $0.0033/gal, applied 1 time
Terminaling	1.500	estimate	Flat estimate: no fee on file for this terminal
Product adder	7.830		Sum of the lines above, over the origin spot price

Every published route, lowest adder first (3 of 3). Origins are priced at the same index here. "Origin must be cheaper by" is how far below the lowest route's origin 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
West Fargo, ND	NuStar Pipeline	Sauk Centre, MN	Nustar - Sauk Centre Terminal	5.53	0.47	0.33	1.50	7.83	8.9	—	FERC No. 16.32.0 item 160
Roseville, MN	NuStar Pipeline	Sauk Centre, MN	Nustar - Sauk Centre Terminal	6.54	0.46	0.33	1.50	8.83	8.7	1.00	FERC No. 16.32.0 item 170
Mandan, ND / West Fargo, ND / Roseville, MN (MidCon North)	NuStar Pipeline	Sauk Centre, MN	Nustar - Sauk Centre Terminal	8.85	0.58	0.33	1.50	11.25	11.0	3.42	FERC No. 16.32.0 item 150

Diesel: product adder

¢/gal · lowest adder: 8.26
¢/gal · line-haul tariff · published: 5.53
¢/gal · carrying cost · calculated: 0.72
¢/gal · pipeline loss · estimate: 0.50
¢/gal · terminaling · estimate: 1.50
days financed: 8.9

Lowest route: from West Fargo, ND on NuStar Pipeline to Sauk Centre, MN (FERC No. 16.32.0 item 160).

How the lowest adder is worked, line by line

Line	¢/gal	Basis	Source or working
Line-haul tariff	5.533	published	NuStar Pipeline FERC No. 16.32.0 item 160: West Fargo, ND → Sauk Centre, MN, 232.37 ¢/bbl
Carrying cost	0.723	calculated	$5.000000/gal × 5.9000% ÷ 365 × 8.945 days (1.445 in transit, 2.50 waiting on the cycle, 5.00 in terminal inventory); transit estimated: 139 pipeline miles at 4.0 mph (general estimate)
Pipeline loss	0.500	estimate	flat estimate $0.0050/gal, applied 1 time
Terminaling	1.500	estimate	Flat estimate: no fee on file for this terminal
Product adder	8.256		Sum of the lines above, over the origin spot price

Origin	Pipeline	Delivery point	Terminals	Line-haul	Carrying	Loss	Terminaling	Adder ¢/gal	Days	Origin must be cheaper by	Tariff
West Fargo, ND	NuStar Pipeline	Sauk Centre, MN	Nustar - Sauk Centre Terminal	5.53	0.72	0.50	1.50	8.26	8.9	—	FERC No. 16.32.0 item 160
Roseville, MN	NuStar Pipeline	Sauk Centre, MN	Nustar - Sauk Centre Terminal	6.54	0.70	0.50	1.50	9.24	8.7	0.99	FERC No. 16.32.0 item 170
Mandan, ND / West Fargo, ND / Roseville, MN (MidCon North)	NuStar Pipeline	Sauk Centre, MN	Nustar - Sauk Centre Terminal	8.85	0.89	0.50	1.50	11.73	11.0	3.48	FERC No. 16.32.0 item 150

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, 2026-10-07. Diesel: OilPriceAPI ULSD_DIESEL_USD, 2026-10-07. These are the New York Harbor futures benchmarks, not a Gulf Coast price.
Interest rate: SOFR 3.90% (2026-10-06) + 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, 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.
Terminaling: the carrier's terminal charge where its tariff states one (marked *), otherwise a flat 1.5¢/gal estimate.
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 West Fargo, ND on NuStar Pipeline: 5.53
¢/gal · cheapest diesel · from West Fargo, ND on NuStar Pipeline: 5.53

Origin	Pipeline	Delivery point	Product	¢/bbl	¢/gal	Refineries at the origin	Tariff
West Fargo, ND	NuStar Pipeline	Sauk Centre, MN	gasoline, distillate	232.37	5.53		FERC No. 16.32.0 item 160
Roseville, MN	NuStar Pipeline	Sauk Centre, MN	gasoline, distillate	274.78	6.54		FERC No. 16.32.0 item 170
Mandan, ND / West Fargo, ND / Roseville, MN (MidCon North)	NuStar Pipeline	Sauk Centre, MN	gasoline, distillate	371.54	8.85	Marathon Petroleum Mandan Refinery (formerly Tesoro Mandan Refinery)	FERC No. 16.32.0 item 150

Supply resilience

pipeline supply: One pipeline
pipeline systems delivering: 1
terminals on two or more pipelines: 0
terminals with no pipeline tariff: 0

One pipeline system delivers here: NuStar Pipeline. An outage on it leaves the market to truck, rail or water.

If a pipeline system goes down

Pipeline system	Terminals it reaches here	With no other pipeline	Which
NuStar Pipeline	1	1	Nustar - Sauk Centre Terminal

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: -8.80
¢/gal over Chicago ethanol · highest: -8.80

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 - Sauk Centre Terminal	-8.80	truck	Bushmills Ethanol Inc (Atwater, MN)	51

Nearby rack markets

Rack markets within 75 miles (straight line): where a buyer here could also lift.

Rack market	Miles	Terminals	Pipelines
Alexandria, MN	23	1	1

Around the market

This market Its terminals Nearby market

Open supply footprint in full map

Pump prices nearby

$4.200 Regular gasoline · Minnesota · -2.7% on the week · +42.9% on the year

$6.286 Diesel · PADD 2 · -3.7% on the week · +68.5% on the year

EIA weekly retail survey, week of 2026-10-05: the closest area EIA reports, not this market alone.

Fuel taxes · Minnesota

51.1 ¢/gal Gasoline · state 32.7¢ + federal 18.4¢ (excise 32.6¢, other state taxes and fees 0.1¢)

57.1 ¢/gal Diesel · state 32.7¢ + federal 24.4¢ (excise 32.6¢, other state taxes and fees 0.1¢)

Taxed at: distributor / wholesaler
Figured on gross gallons
Rates change annually on January 1 based on the Minnesota Highway Construction Cost Index (posted August 1); a new rate takes effect 1/1/2026 (amount not given) and increases are capped at 3% from January 1, 2026.

Rates: EIA, in effect July 1, 2026, without county or city taxes. Rules: Federation of Tax Administrators, September 2025. Not tax advice: check the state agency before relying on a rate.

Terminal operators

1 operator; Sunoco / Energy Transfer runs 100% of the terminals.

Sunoco / Energy Transfer 1 terminal · 100%

Concentration index 10,000 (10,000 = one operator). By terminal count as named on the IRS list, not volume; affiliates under other names may be counted apart.

In the state

11 rack markets in MN.

Source

Rack market list and codes from OPIS; terminals from the IRS Terminal Control Number list; pipeline reach from published FERC and state tariffs; refinery links from tariffs and sourced research. Rack prices and suppliers posting at each terminal are not shown yet.

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.