I live in Barstow, Ca. and we have about ten gas stations within the city limits. The average price for a gallon of regular is about $4.17. One gas station is charging $3.94 a gallon for regular. How is this possible?

the lower price could be there as a result of competition from other stations. around me the price can vary 10-15 cents easily from one area of town to another.

There are a few stations that have forgone there profit margins to make quantity sales.
What amazes me is the price increased, demand increased but we never see stations running out of gas or closing down due to high gas prices like it was back in the 70's.

At a major intersection in our town, three of the four corners have competing gas stations. I have never seen them offer the same price for gas and the prices usually differ by at least 5 cents a gallon. I've always wondered why people go to station Y and pay 4.69 a gallon when station X is right across the street and is 4.64 and station Z is on the other corner and is charging 4.61 a gallon but all three stations seem to get equal business. I guess it has more to do with convenience - what side of the street and what direction one is traveling and also people having credit cards for station Y or speed pays for station X, etc.

Now that I think about it, I dont think I've ever seen two gas stations in the same town that offer the same price in gas! I'll start paying more attention.

Jemison

Possibly the low station has higher volume and has already depleted all of the gas in their tanks that was bought at the higher price?

The theory is that when prices drop dramatically, gas stations have to sell all of that gas that they bought when the price was 50 cents higher than it is now. It's funny how the prices shoot UP right away though.

Up until 3 weeks ago I worked at a petrol station (thats what we call gas stations in Australia) and I quit out of sheer frustration. When I started there a year and a half before I would say 85% of the customers were happy and rarely did we have any problems. In the last recent months I think I have copped more abuse and death stares than any human being should have to take in a lifetime.

When it came to the actual price we were charging for the fuel, we were called up from a pricing department and told to put the price at a certain level, up or down (usually up). Never at any point in time did we have any control over the price ourselves. Yet we were the the only people the customers could complain to and never at any point in time were we given any reason or explanation from the company as to what we were to say to the customers. We were pretty much left to make it up as we went along.

You may be asking where I am going with this. I guess its simply a word of advice not to blame the poor guy behind the counter for the price when you next fill up your petrol tank. Think higher up in the chain. Focus your anger at the people running things from their cosy offices.

Kryties.

I live in CT near the casino so most of the stations in the area are pretty jacked to begin with, it finally came down from 4.30 to 4.07 in providence where I visit my girlfriend the price of gas is down to 3.73.

My roommate actually works for this company that builds sensors for shell gas pumps, he told me that SUPER gas and Medium grade gas at least at SHELL draw the fuel from the same tank. He is not sure if other stations do the same.