Three words in honor of the recent runup in fuel prices:

[randomness]

Locking. Gas. Cap.

(My car's locking fuel door broke from metal fatigue a while back, but with the recent price rises I decided it was time to get a locking gas cap, rather than wait to get another fuel door.)

Comments

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Actually, the explanation I heard on WBZ was that stations were getting hit with price rises from distributors, and that this was happening as they received their deliveries. Urban stations tend to have higher volumes, so they get deliveries more often.

A test of this will be if, in a week or so, when the rural stations have to refill their tanks, their prices also go up.

One other detail from the WBZ broadcast was that the stations owned by the big chains generally have long-term contracts, which has meant that they have more secure supplies, although the prices charged to them are rising also--evidently the contracts don't guarantee price level, only supply--while the independent dealers are being told by their distributors that there may not be any more fuel for them next time around.

The behavior I have observed around here is that all the formerly cheap independent dealers are now on the order of twenty cents higher than the chains.

Two links from perspicuity:

http://www.gaspricewatch.com
http://www.gasbuddy.com

[hotpoint.livejournal.com]

That's what I was guessing, from how the most expensive gas stations I regularly see (the Mobil at Alewife Brook Parkway and Mass Av, and the Shell on Concord by the Ground Round Rotary) were now cheaper than the independent stations on Mass Av.

But none of these stations receive a shipment of gas every day. Also, the station nearest my house had raised its price for 87 octane to $3.179 Tuesday night, and to $3.[ ]59 tonight. (They ran out of 3s!) Either their suppliers are saying there may not be any more gas for another week and they'd (profitably) reduce demand to what they'll be able to supply, or they've decided they're going out of business and they might as well get a bankroll for Foxwoods.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

But none of these stations receive a shipment of gas every day.

Seriously! As an example, the broadcast said that once every three days was high-volume.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

This from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/31/AR2005083102644.html:

"Motorists were confused that the price increases varied widely, from pennies to a dollar. The variations were due to how stations buy their gasoline. Most branded stations, such as Exxon and Shell, have contracts that lock in prices over extended periods, allowing them to weather fluctuations in the market caused by disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

"Independent stations, which usually purchase gas on the spot market, suffer from daily price swings and are more likely to boost their prices significantly during chaotic events. Gasoline futures prices have climbed about 35 percent since Friday."

So I'm wrong. The long-term contracts do lock in prices, at least according to the Post.