More than you want to know about gasoline

NewMexiKen bought gasoline last week for $3.01⁹ (mid-grade) then saw premium at Costco and Sam’s a little while later for $2.74⁹. Wow, I thought, 27¢ a gallon, how can that be?

Then I read why in the October Consumer Reports.

When oil prices are relatively low or falling and supplies are adequate, independent gas stations tend to have the lowest prices because they’re free to shop around…. Super-size independents or hyper marketers, such as Costco, can afford to market gas for little profit; convenience-store gas independents make more profits selling coffee and cigarettes [and beer] than gasoline….

When oil prices are relatively high or rising and supplies are tight, brand-name gas stations will tend to have a pricing edge. That’s because the brand-name companies make sure their own stations get scarce supplies first, at contract prices that insulate them somewhat from hikes…. Scarcity pushes up spot market prices and independents’ costs.

The article also points out that gasoline is a generic product. “The only thing that distinguishes brands is the fraction of a percent of proprietary additives dropped into tanker trucks before delivery to retail gas stations.”

NewMexiKen also read recently that it is unwise to buy gasoline while a tanker truck is filling the station’s tanks. Apparently the delivery will stir up impurities in the underground tanks and send them along to your vehicle.