More on Knoxville Gas Station Price Gouging

Update below

Yesterday, Knoxvillians watched gas prices at the pump jump from around $3.64 to $4.49 in a span on literally a few hours, based on refineries shutting down in anticipation of Hurricane Ike. Now, Pilot vice-president for supply/distribution says the nearly $1 per gallon jump is based on “economic/market forces.” I call bullshit on that.

Alan Wright, vice president for supply and distribution for Pilot, said during a rare Pilot press conference Friday that economic forces are driving the surge in prices. Some motorists around Knoxville saw prices rise Friday as they were still pumping gas, eliciting gouging complaints.

Wright said Pilot stores were not engaging in such practices. With normal sources of fuel disrupted, Pilot and other retailers are having to search out other suppliers, often at greater cost, he said.

“We are simply responding to market forces,” he said.

As I noted yesterday, most places in the country are getting their gas supply. Funny how Knoxville isn’t, compared to the rest of the state, except for Pilot stations. Even the Exxon station near me was out of regular by 2:30 pm. Now how can a national chain like that not be getting gas, yet Pilot is.

He pointed out that fuel prices have been increasing rapidly on the spot market, reaching $5 per gallon in the Gulf Coast area and higher than that in some cities such as Chicago.

And one really needs to look at Pilot vpsd’s out and out lie that Chicago gas is over $5 per gallon, cause, dude, you need to get your facts straight, Chicago, Ill is paying LESS for a gallon of gas than Knoxvillians. People aren’t stupid, we aren’t going to take what you say at face value without checking it out. Just in case you don’t click on the historical gas price charts for Chicago, ILL, it says people are being charged an average $4.14 per gallon for gas, which is not reaching $5 per gallon, and the highest charges are the same as Knoxville, at $4.49 (unless the price has gone up here again since yesterday).

But, what is interesting in this latest piece, is that Pilot, and therefore other gas companies in Knoxville will NOT be lowering their prices, even after Ike is over and refineries are back online.

“At least through the end of September and possibly beyond, we can expect price increases,” he added.

And this line doesn’t give me a whole lot of comfort.

Still, Tennessee officials have announced that they will be keeping an eye out for signs of gouging.

Of course, their eye hasn’t been on Knoxville, or the Mayor’s daddy. Guess a few choice words like market forces is enough to turn officials eyes away while leaving consummers dangling.

Update: Tennessee officials may want to take a look at the news and compare it to what is happening at Knoxville gas stations.

Gasoline prices jumped at the wholesale level Friday as Hurricane Ike swept through Gulf of Mexico, prompting companies along the Texas coast to shut down refining and drilling operations.

Crude oil on the futures market, however, briefly sank below the psychologically important $100-a-barrel mark for the first time since April 2 — showing that investors believe a worsening global economy will continue to drive down demand for some time in the United States and elsewhere.

The fact that U.S. fuel demand is so weak right now might mean the recent surge in the wholesale price of gasoline — which rose to about $4.85 a gallon in the Gulf Coast market Friday — might not be passed along to consumers unless Ike’s impact is severe and long-lasting.

“Major oil companies are sensitive to raising prices in this environment,” said Ben Brockwell, director of data pricing and information services at the Oil Price Information Service.

And here is one more tid-bit, especially for liar extraordinaire, Alan Wright of Pilot, who was quoted above as saying gas at the pump in Chicago was over $5:

Wholesale prices were much lower in other regions such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, but even those areas saw prices rise.