Well, now, if I had wondered whether the run-up in pricing was substantially opportunism, my wondering is o-ver.
Went yesterday to Austin (from Dallas) for football game (my concession to the price of gas being that I took CJane's Jetta instead of my Caddy). Gas everywhere in Dallas is $3.09/$3.19/$3.29, including heretofore unseen consistency in pricing from station to station and from one part of town to another. in particular, I watched carefully as I drove through the southern sector of town, where gas is typically 8-10 cents less than in my immediate area (not known for budget pricing). that, alone, was curious.
I had to get about 20 miles south of town before I crossed the dime line- suddnely, all the stations were at $2.99/$3.09/$3.19.
Somewhere around Temple, about 130 miles south of Dallas, I must have crossed another "dime line," because started seeing the $2.89/$2.99/$3.09.
I stopped somewhere near there, bought premium for $3.04, and felt really crafty for doing so. Then, I saw Troy, wherethe Exxon had $2.79 regular unleaded.
Today, my sister-in-law called me, told me that they had gassed up in Austin at $2.69.
And my friend in Louisiana (a refugee, but one comfortably ensconced in a B&B in Natchitoches) told me gas in Alexandria is $2.57/gallon.
I am all for a fair profit and reasonable returns, but the run-up in prices anticipated and generally outpaced the increase in UG futures, while the substantial drop in Unleaded gasoline contracts (over $0.20 on Friday, IIRC) has not been seen at he pumps at all.
In any event, there is no reason why gas should be 30 to 40 cents higher in Dallas than in Austin or Temple or Troy. Or (for that matter), 52 cents higher than Alexandria, Louisiana.
Ridiculous.
