MAPCO head addresses cause of gas crisis at Nashville Business Breakfast

Janel Shoun | 

A combination of high demand, global instability and easy money have come together to cause the current rise in gasoline prices, but some relief may be on the way once lower demand kicks in, said Ezra Uzi Yemin, president, CEO and director of Delek US Holdings, parent company of MAPCO Express, at the Nashville Business Breakfast on Thursday.

The Nashville Business Breakfast is a lecture series featuring business leaders with local economic impact presented by Lipscomb University and the Nashville Business Journal.

Yemin, executive officer of Delek US Holdings Inc. since June 2004, said that current meteoric rise in gas prices was caused by global instability in many oil-producing regions, increased demand from developing countries, a weaker U.S. dollar and a rash of commodity trading over the past decade.

He said there is hope on the horizon, however. Demand has already fallen by 11 percent, so he expects the price of gas at the pumps to drop to $3 or less in the future as demand for oil continues to drop.

He also recommended exploring alternative power sources, such as nuclear power and electric cars, to keep the cost of oil at a manageable level in the future.

“We need to change our culture,” he told the hundreds of local businesspeople who gathered at Allen Arena to hear him. “We need to go to the next generation.”

America uses 25 percent of the world’s energy for only 5 percent of the population, he noted.

Prior to joining Delek, Yemin served from 2000 to 2001 as the chief financial officer of Delek - The Israel Fuel Corporation Ltd., a fuel corporation in Israel and one of Delek’s affiliated entities. Additionally, he spent two years with CLAL Insurance Company Ltd., an insurance company in Israel, and two years in the Insurance Commissioner’s Office of the Israel Ministry of Finance.

The next Nashville Business Breakfast will feature Scott McWilliams, CEO of Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, one of the world’s largest global supply chain management companies and one of Tennessee’s fastest growing businesses.

Cost of the breakfast is $20 in advance and $30 at the door. Registration is available online at http://leadership.lipscomb.edu and by calling 615.966.6609.