Pay attention, pump gas, save money.
Yes, gasoline prices are rising and the main reason is the increase in the price of global crude oil – thank you, Saudi Arabia!! – but you still have choices when you go to pump gas.
An analysis by GasBuddy took a look at the bottom 5 percent of prices and the topo 5 percent in a series of markets and wouldn't you know, the spread can be pretty different from priciest to cheapest.
For example, in San Francisco, the costlier stations average $1.43 more than those in the cheaper tier.
That is per gallon, yes.
So if you had a 15-gallon fill-up, it would cost you $21.45 more. That’s enough to get your husband a decent polo shirt at your local discounter or two movie tickets for your kids at the cinemaplex. (Well, if it were a matinee showing.)
And if you were filling that vehicle up, say, every couple weeks, that spread would amount to more than $500 a year.
Might pay to shop around, yes?
Okay, it’s not so dramatic round here. The average spread – using the same measure as in San Francisco – was 47 cents a gallon, said GasBuddy.
Shop for the lower price and you come out $7.05 ahead. And okay, it doesn’t compare to the crazy-high savings in California, but it still comes to $7.05 for a fill-up – and that is more than the price of a latte at Starbuck’s with all the trimmings.
A year's worth of fill-ups at the low end would save you $176.25 – enough to buy a couple of flare dresses from Belk.
Of course, that’s just the average spread.
It does look like the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries – led, of course, by Saudi Arabia – is making an attempt to ratchet back production and for prices to rise, but the outcome is no sure thing, said Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.
“It’s still uncertain whether any long-term trend for either crude oil or retail gasoline might develop that’s sustainable,” he said.
Some experts think this is the last gasp of the once globally dominant cartel. But no doubt, in the short run they are having an impact. A week ago, the average price in Atlanta was $2.10 and — even before the OPEC effect comes through the pipeline — by Monday it was up 3 cents a gallon.
A year ago, the average in Atlanta was $1.99, GasBuddy said.
On Monday, the very lowest priced gasoline in the area Monday was in Cartersville, a BP that was charging just $1.92 a gallon. And the very highest priced gasoline was a Chevron station in Atlanta charging $2.79 a gallon.
That is an 87 cent-a-gallon difference. That is $13.05 for a 15-gallon fill-up and, if you do it 25 times a year, that is $326.25.
That could buy you a round-trip ticket to New York. And a shirt. And a latte.
“It just serves as a good message for consumers,” Laskoski said. “Regardless of the direction prices are going in, a little attentiveness always helps you hold on to more of your own money.”
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AVERAGE SPREAD BETWEEN
CHEAPEST AND MOST COSTLY STATIONS
(per gallon of regular)
Los Angeles $1.14
Honolulu $1.03
San Diego $1.03
Seattle $0.84
Orange County, CA $0.82
Chicago $0.77
Portland, OR $0.75
Des Moines $0.68
New York $0.65
Miami $0.61
Boston $0.57
Nashville $0.51
Atlanta $0.47
Source: GasBuddy
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