12/17/2009 6:00:00 AM
Gas prices up even as oil falls
Kingmanites continue to pay more than Bullhead residents
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KINGMAN - The price of crude oil has dropped nearly 10 dollars over the past several weeks, but you wouldn't notice it in Mohave County, where gas prices have continued to rise slightly over the same period, and will likely remain where they are through the end of the year, according to AAA accounts.
The price for a gallon of regular unleaded at Kingman's roughly two dozen gas stations averaged $2.622 Wednesday morning, up slightly from late November's average of $2.619.
Prices ranged from station to station, with the Flying J Travel Plaza at 3300 E. Andy Devine Ave. boasting the city's lowest price at just $2.499 a gallon, while several gas stations on W. Beale Street tied for the most expensive gas at $2.799.
Gas prices elsewhere in Mohave County have also risen over the past month, with Lake Havasu City's average rising from $2.678 to $2.692. Bullhead City's average also rose, from $2.452 to $2.469 a gallon, though its gasoline prices continue to pace well behind its neighbors for reasons neither AAA nor individual gas station owners have been able to explain.
Elsewhere in the state, gas prices have been erratic, with some rising while others fell. The statewide average rose over the period, from $2.597 to $2.601, as well as in Tucson, where prices jumped from $2.445 to $2.486.
But elsewhere, in places like Flagstaff and Phoenix, prices dropped by a similar margin - Flagstaff motorists currently pay $2.712 for gas, while Phoenix pays $2.575, both down about two cents from late November.
Currently, Arizona sits in the middle of the pack nationwide, tacking closely to the national average of $2.594 per gallon.
Missouri continues to pay the least for gas, with an average of just $2.404 per gallon, while California maintains the highest prices in the continental U.S. at $2.912.
The good news, according to AAA spokeswoman Michelle Donati, is that while prices are not plummeting the way they did this time last year when gas cost nearly a dollar less than it does now, they are stabilizing after a year that saw sharp increases followed by frequent price shifts brought on by the staggering economy.
"Oil prices have been fairly volatile - one day it might shift up due to a positive economic report, the next day we might hear a negative report and the price of oil would drop," Donati said.
"But we've really seen prices stabilize over the last several weeks. All in all, we haven't seen any major shifts in one direction or another."
Donati noted that, like this time last year, supplies of oil remain ample while demand has yet to rebound from last year's sharp economic downturn.
She said the main reason gas is more than a dollar above where it was then is due primarily to refineries carefully rationing the amount of gasoline they are producing so as to avoid creating a supply glut which would once again plummet prices and cripple their bottom line.
"Refiners are keeping a much closer eye on supply and demand so that they don't lose their profits," Donati said.
"We aren't anticipating any major shift in the price of gasoline through the end of the year unless oil were to drop further than it is now, or conversely, start to rise again."
But she added that prices will likely bump up slightly over the next couple of weeks as motorists take to the road for the Christmas and New Year's holidays, even as the association expects Arizona holiday travel to drop 5.7 percent from last year's figures, bucking the national trend.
"Even though we anticipate a drop in travel, we still expect 90 percent of year-end travelers to go by motor vehicle, so there will be 1.8 million Arizona drivers on the roads between the Christmas and New Year holidays," Donati said.
"Based on that, we could see prices tighten up around then, but that wouldn't be an atypical shift compared to that of other holidays."
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Posted: Saturday, December 19, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Welcome to Kingman.
Expect less....
Pay more!
Posted: Friday, December 18, 2009
Article comment by:
john
if everyone stops buying gas in kingman the price will go down!!
Posted: Friday, December 18, 2009
Article comment by:
ken
to many gas stations in kingman, they all want to get rich on gas. I load my gas cans up when I go to bullhead to fill up and save a bunch of money.
Posted: Friday, December 18, 2009
Article comment by:
kak
tis the season....to gouge every nickle from everyone..
Gas will always go up at every holiday...and Yes the Store owners are the ones setting the profits.
if your favorite station is gouging...stop going there..
Posted: Friday, December 18, 2009
Article comment by:
Bruce
It's called the free market. If one wants to charge 10 cents more for a gallon of milk in their Kingman business than in their store in Bullhead City..so be it. It's their business. Just who decides as to the price is too out of line...you do by shopping at the store of your choosing. Stop the whinning!
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
Bob
You are wrong on the prices being the same in Kingman, BHC and LHC. My wife is a merchandiser and BHC has the cheaper prices go see for yourself don't believe the mangers they are telling you a story. We have shopped and compared Kingman and BHC and BHC Walmart has the lower prices.
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
we are going up because of the holidas coming up they dont want you leaving town and the same owners have the am/pm down in bullhead and our gas is higher so we suffer
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
I check periodically
Bob,
Walmart prices are the same in Kingman as Bullhead City. If you talk to the managers they will tell you prices are the same for regional stores, BHC, LHC & KGMN and come from the same district pricing list.
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
Paratrooper
I was always under the impression that a GOOD news story answered 5 questions . Who , What , Where , Why and When . It would seem that the WHY is conspicious by it's absence . Gas stations must buy from somewhere . Someone needs to ask that "someone" why the prices are higher for some and not others . Good investigative reporting seems to be missing lately . If there seems to be no difference in wholesale prices then the problem is lower down on the food chain . www.gasbuddy.com seems to be keeping up on the prices all over this area as well as the US . A station is allowed to charge as much as they please . Consumers are also allowed to buy at any station THEY please . If everyone buys at a station with more reasonable prices the others either follow suit or close up . If station "A" can sell at XXX price then so can station "B" and all the others .Check around , you might save a buck .
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
Tired Of Waste
Actually there is a logical explanation for Bullhead gas prices to be SO much lower than Kingman prices...GREED!
Let's start Boycotting the Kingman stations until they align with Bullhead! The stations along Beale St. are the Worst! Let's start with them!
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
A Fuel Industry Person
I agree on the fact that Kingman gas prices have NO reason to be so much more than Bullhead.
I am in the fuel industry and I can tell you that it is not the suppliers, it is the station owners. Can someone please look into our major gouging price problem in Kingman!!
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
I know a lot of the gas comes from the pipeline in Las Vegas. The price is the same for any transport vehicle. You are right that it is easier to deliver to Kingman, but only the miles are what is significant, and it is farther to Bullhead if going 93.
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
Bob
Your gas prices are not totally correct. The price of regular in BHC was 2.27 yesterday and the price for regular in LHC was 2.49 yeaterday. Kingman is always the highest price on almost everything. I am retired living in Golden Valley and we will not shop in Kingman. The prices in BHC Walmart are on the average 15% cheaper than Kingman Walmart. Golden Valley is midway between BHC and Kingman so why go to Kingman at all. BHC stores are cheaper, restrarants are cheaper( more choices and better food) and gas is cheaper so there is no reason to go to Kingman. Wake up Kingman no wonder your sales tax revenue is down.
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
There is absolutely no logical explanation for Bullhead City gasoline to be so much less than Kingman and LHC. Bullhead is harder to reach to deliver gas to, Kingman is right on the interstate (which, for me, explains exactly why the prices are higher), and LHC is a major tourism/snow bird locale (which explains why their gas is higher).
I would like the state to revisit the gouging issue that has been brought up time and again with no actual effort to investigate what's going on here. Local government really has their hands tied when it comes to these issues.
I don't want to hear about how it's more expensive to get gas to Kingman, we are on one of the biggest interstates in the country. Bullhead is at the bottom of a mountain, and dozens of miles from any major highway.
And why is one safeway store less than the other? They must surely get their gasoline from the same supplier.
Can our reporter dig deeper into that please?
I'm all for free enterprise but this is silly.
Bottom line: Whether it's the supplier charging more per gallon to kingman and LHC stations, or it's the stations choosing to charge the customer more because of the interstate and tourism travel, the price is too out of line with BHC some 35 miles away.
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