Gas prices slow to fall in Triangle

Comparisons with other regions build resentment -- and wonder

A month later, Hurricane Ike is a distant memory -- except at Triangle gas pumps.

Gas prices are higher in the Triangle than anywhere else in North Carolina, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

We paid an average $3.617 a gallon for regular Monday. That's almost 12 cents more than the state price, and 41 cents above the national average $3.206.

The plunge of crude oil prices -- $83 a barrel Monday, down from a record $147 in July -- is pushing gas prices lower across the country. In the Midwest, some statewide averages have dipped below $3 for regular.

Triangle prices are declining only slowly, and drivers resent the disparity. They blame greedy oil companies, worthless politicians -- or both.

"It is collusion," said Rich Seibel of Youngsville. He quoted lower prices from New York ($3.29) to Virginia ($3.09).

Harv Wells returned from a trip to South Carolina, where he paid $3.15 a gallon.

"I feel like we are being royally ripped-off in North Raleigh," Wells said by e-mail. "Perhaps far worse, no one in our state government appears to be doing anything useful about it!!!"

It isn't clear why Triangle drivers pay so much more. Hurricane Ike last month had a worse impact on supplies in Asheville and Charlotte, but prices in both cities have fallen sharply in recent weeks.

Many high-volume Triangle outlets are back online, but the mom-and-pops are still catching up.

Petroleum marketers could not explain why some Triangle stations are still struggling to fill their storage tanks. The tighter supply has kept prices higher.

"It may be we have not gotten back to normal yet, but we're getting there," said Bill Weatherspoon of the N.C. Petroleum Council, a big-oil trade group.

"The only economic rationale I can see for [Triangle prices] is continued issues with gas supplies, or supplies being trucked in at higher cost," said Michael Walden, an N.C. State University economist. "I think it's still an overhang of Hurricane Ike."

David Walker's small BP station in Chapel Hill ran out of regular for a few days at a time in September, and for shorter periods in early October. He hasn't had premium or mid-grade for two weeks.

"Until now I have been able to get only partial loads of regular, and that's all I get," Walker said Monday. "Supposedly tonight I'll get my first full load of gasoline. I'll have all three grades again."

He didn't wait for the delivery truck to cut his price for regular -- from $3.799 Monday morning to $3.499 by midafternoon.

"I'm anticipating that shipment, and that's why I'm lowering my prices," he said. "I'll feel like an idiot if it doesn't come in, and I run out of gas again tomorrow."

'Didn't want to run out'

Walker said he had to set gas prices higher while he endured his worst supply disruption in three decades.

"I just didn't want to run out," he said. "I was actually controlling my sales by keeping the price a little higher than I had to. For a gasoline station to run out of gas, something's wrong.

"I can't speak for other dealers, but I've got a feeling they feel the same way I do. They're waiting for the supply to actually improve before they lower their prices," Walker said.

State Attorney General Roy Cooper promised to prosecute price gougers -- retailers who exploited the Ike shortage by marking up their prices excessively. A spokeswoman said Cooper's gouging probe is still under way. None of the retailers investigated so far is located in the Triangle.

Walden said Triangle drivers might see gas selling below $3 by the end of the year.

"Once our Hurricane Ike issues are resolved, we should see gas prices dramatically fall," he said.