Why the flux in gas prices from station to station?

By Colleen Hogan

CREATED Mar. 21, 2013

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  • Four In Your Corner's Colleen Hogan is talking to the experts for some answers. Video by fox4now.com

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CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Why is gas sold at one price at one station, and another price at another - sometimes several cents or more? That's what a Fox 4 viewer wanted us to look into - so Four In Your Corner's Colleen Hogan is taking that question to the experts.

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Rich Arddownes is topping off his red sports car at the Citgo gas station on Santa Barbara near Veterans in the Cape. He lives in the Cape but works in Ft. Myers, so when the price goes up, he feels it.

"Recently, it's gone down," he said, of the gas prices. "So it's been helping me out lately."

This Citgo in the Cape is almost always among the cheapest stations to fill up in town. 
 
"I didn't know that (we had) the cheapest price in town," employee Mohammed Zamman said. "But we always try to do the cheapest price here."
 
He says the station is independently owned, which gives them flexibility with the pricing. 
 
"We try to do our best," he said.
 
He says the price you pay at the pump also has to do with how much gas a station buys and if it's generic or brand name.
 
Jessica Brady with AAA, says prices have actually been falling since the start of March.
 
"A lot of viewers have reached out to us, they wanna know what the deal is with the disparity in gas prices, especially here in Lee County. What can you tell them?" Hogan asked Brady.
 
"There's a few different reasons for that," Brady said. "One could be the amount of competition in the area. You tend to find stations having little competition having higher prices. Also stations that are most convienent , on (highway) ramps on major interstates are higher. Also, are you comparing name brand gasolene to generic gasolene? Any gas stations that are near airports or major attractions, even popular beaches, tend to be higher."
 
Which could be why Patrick DeHaan at Gasbuddy.com says Southwest Florida has an average of $3.75 a gallon right now, which is about 15 cents a gallon more than the Tampa area. But in Miami, they're paying about 15 cents more than us, up to $4 a gallon.
 
One more thing affecting production this time of year: refineries switching to a summer blend of gas.
 
Let us know where you find cheap gas, by logging  onto our Fox 4 Facebook page and join the conversation.
 
Colleen Hogan, reporter
chogan@jrn.com