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There are some explanations for the variety of prices, and according to Steven Wells, owner of the Gulf station at 940 Canton Ave., it’s a challenge for stations to keep up. His station’s price often is among the highest.
“The market price changes daily, sometimes twice daily, for gas,” said Wells. “When we buy gas, we buy it at 10,000 gallons a whack. So we need to hold that price, where we bought it, until we sell that 10,000 gallons.”
Wells said his station only makes 29 cents-a-gallon on the gas they sell, with 39.9 cents-per-gallon going to taxes set by the state and federal government.
Another factor that adds to the cost at the pump is credit card fees. Wells’ station is a brand station, carrying the Gulf logo, and many of the station’s transactions are by credit card. It makes it convenient for his customers, but it adds to his costs. Credit card companies take up to four percent in fees of each card sale.
The Milton Fuel station, at 351 Granite Ave., has shared claim to the best price for regular gas in town, and owner Jason Audi, who also runs Milton Shell, at 11 Bryant Ave., finds the current pricing a juggling act.
There is a large discrepancy in prices at his two stations. Shell is the highest price in town, just having come down under $2-a-gallon last week.
Several times a day, he checks the Internet for the current price of fuel, and he adjusts his price accordingly.
The difference in the two stations’ prices is because he outright owns Milton Fuel, which he bought from Mobil about a year ago.
He can buy fuel when he deems the price is right, and can pass the savings on to his customers. He
leases the Shell station, and is forced to accept gas shipped from Shell at the time that the large company sees fit.
“Price is everything,” says Audi. “People are very price anxious right now. I am dropping prices as far as I can….If you buy at the right price, you can sell at the right price. I have no control of that at the Shell station.”
He says that the Shell has been much more quiet at the pumps than his other stations. He also owns stations in Quincy and Newton.
One fact that the station owners seemed to agree on is that there is little difference in gas quality. Whether a station is a brand name or not, “gas is gas,” according to Audi.
“There is some difference in the premium grades that add cleaning agents to the fuels,” said Wells.
But Audi says few people are spending the extra money for the higher-octane fuels right now.
“Sales of premium fuel have dropped way off,” he said.
“Ninety percent of my customers buy regular gas.”
Analysts believe that gas prices may be bottoming out, but each day, owners check the web for the latest price, and sometimes a few more pennies drop off those gas station signs.
“It’s a crazy business,” says Wells.