Gas prices cover wide range here

IN TAYLORSVILLE, YOU COULD GET IT FOR $2.35; IN HICKORY, ONE PLACE WAS ASKING $2.79

WHY THE DISCREPANCY? IT DEPENDS ON RETAILERS' RENT, LOCATION, VOLUME AND WHOLESALE COSTS

Friday, September 8, 2006

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

Like most motorists in the Catawba Valley, Robert Morrison is paying anywhere from $2.35 to $2.79 for a gallon of gasoline.

Swelling gas prices are one thing, but it's the discrepancy in what some local stations charge for a gallon of regular unleaded - a difference of 44 cents, in some cases - that he doesn't understand.

"That's a big gap," said Morrison, who moved here from California in 1995 to retire. "I've never seen anything like it."
A Wal-Mart in Taylorsville, about 20 miles from downtown Hickory, was selling regular unleaded gas for $2.35 Wednesday. Gas stations on Lenoir Rhyne Boulevard, by comparison, peaked at $2.79 on the same day.

For Morrison, that's $9.24 in savings every time he fills up his 21-gallon truck.

"That's a lot of money," he said. "Some people are getting bargains, and some people aren't."

Around Hickory, stores in the southwest area of the city generally offered lower prices, about $2.56 on average, than most stations in southeast Hickory, which hovered between $2.65 and $2.79, according to a survey of stations on Wednesday.

Several local gas station owners declined to discuss how they price gas.

Retailers look at a number of factors when setting prices, said Jonathan Cogin, energy information specialist at the Energy Information Administration in Washington.

Retailers often look at wholesale gas prices and competition with other stores. Rent and staff costs can also affect prices.

Some stores could see more traffic than others, he said, allowing owners to reduce what they charge per gallon.

"An isolated station in a rural area isn't going to be turning their product over as quickly as a station on a major highway," Cogin said. "There's a lot of factors and people have problems seeing that."



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