Oil companies aren't the only ones looking to make a profit off of high petroleum prices. Tustin's J2 Retail Systems Inc. is looking to capitalize on them by selling cash register computers to gas station operators.

BP PLC, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Chevron Corp.'s Texaco and other big oil companies are requiring their franchisees to become more efficient by upgrading convenience store checkouts with computers and specialized software.

It could be a tough sell: The marching orders come as gas station operators are feeling squeezed by higher gas prices. They too are paying more for the gas they sell with little room for markups.

"The big driver in the convenience store market is that oil companies put forth an end-of-life mandate that says all the equipment that is installed currently needs to upgraded to a PC with a Pentium processor and the newest software," J2 Chief Executive Alex Nelson said.

If station owners don't upgrade, they'll have to pay more for gas from the oil companies, according to Nelson.

J2 Retail, a unit of Britain's J2 Retail Systems Ltd., designs and supports touch screen computers locally. It also does sales, marketing and loads software for customers in North and South America out of its Tustin office.

The computers are made in Taiwan.

Small, touch screen PCs commonly are used at cash register checkouts in fast food chains, hotels, casinos, cruise ships and movie theaters. Servers and bartenders at restaurants use them to enter food orders and keep track of tabs.

More sophisticated models track inventory and can place orders when supplies run low.

For gas stations, J2 Retail is looking to team up with software makers that create specialized programs.

"There are dealers that will go and resell to the top gas stations in an area," Nelson said. "We would be selling to the people who make software specifically for convenience stores."

Some of the bigger players in that area are Israel's Retalix Ltd., Greensboro, N.C.-based Gilbarco Inc. and Texas-based Dresser Inc.

Second Run

Nelson, 52, is on his second go-round running J2.

In 1995, Nelson and two other partners started J2's Irvine-based predecessor, Javelin Systems Inc., which also made touch screen PCs.

He moved to Britain in 1998 to start and run the company's European operations.

Javelin went public in 1996 and grew to a peak market value of about $300 million.

It counted some of the biggest fast food chains, including McDonald's Corp., Taco Bell Corp. and Dunkin' Brands Inc.'s Baskin- Robbins, as customers.

The company hit troubles in late 2000. It made several moves to raise cash and sold its British unit to a European investment bank.