The Fort Stockton Phenomenon, cont.
October 6th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
As I was saying, throughout our summer 2007 trip, we never paid more for gas than we did in Fort Stockton.
I’m not the only one who has noticed or complained about the Fort Stockton phenomenon.
A police officer in Fort Stockton told me this week that the gas stations there have charged an extra dime on top of the statewide gasoline average for years. “Sometimes more than that,” she said.
“Basically, we’ve got two owners here in town,” she said. “They set the price… they have to all kind of agree…”
She didn’t name the owners but did name two of America’s most profitable oil companies.
The officer also said there had been a bit of dust-up earlier this year, when the gas stations in the city were “turned in.”
When asked what difference it made, she answered, “it brought (the price) down for a couple of days… Like I said, we’re not monitored, so they can pretty much do what they want.”
The current national average price for a gallon of gas is $2.79.
A cursory check for gas prices online will give you a glimpse of how high gas is in Fort Stockton — and how prices follow the national average in neighboring communities, like Pecos, Ozona, Odessa, and El Paso. Without fail, those searches will show that the priciest gasoline in Texas can be found just off I-10 in Fort Stockton.
There are two prices in town — the ones on I-10, and those that aren’t.
As of Saturday, Oct. 6, six of the 17 stations in Fort Stockton were charging $3 or more per gallon for regular unleaded. Seven stations were charging $2.89. Two had posted prices at $2.90 per.
In Pecos, just over 50 miles away, only one station was charging over $3, and the cheapest gas in town was $2.79 — in half the stations in town.
Now, I know, ‘profiteering’ is not always against the law. Businesses have a right to charge a reasonable fee for service and reasonable price for product. But let’s remember, tacking a dime on here and there on the price of gas does take a toll — particularly on the hardworking people of a small town who have to fill up there.
And gouging out of town customers who have to buy your gas? That’s just shameful.
