1. Shortage 2. Tax Hike Mike Easley Gas futures were at 1.85 on Friday so it should be dropping like a rock over the next two weeks.
SC gas taxes arent as high as ours. As for the differences in state, it depends on the local competition and the wholesale price. I would imagine the local mini mart doesnt get a shipment as often as a big truck stop off the interstate so perhaps the wholesale price change hadnt been taken into effect.
they always have the cheapest prices there at haw river, gas is also $3.27 around camp Lejune area. we will see gas under 3 in the near future. New Jersey I beleive is under 3 bucks. THE CARDINALS, *** is up with that? OUCH
If the taxes were the cause the prices in SC would be lower from the state line south by at least the amount of the tax difference ($0.10per gallon), which is not the case. The former more than the latter as evidenced by the kack of drop in prices just over the state line in SC where a known price difference is not reflected at the pumps. As there were no interstates nor big truck stops referenced it would be a moot point in this comparison.
I'm trying hard but I'm not following you. What does the location withing the state of SC have to do with their tax?
Ok, the percentage in NC has a maximum and it is maxed out, so that side is fixed. The difference in taxes listed at this point is $0.10 per gallon. Thus, if one crosses the border from NC to SC one should see that difference in price from the two closest stations on either side the border. That is not the case, however, from my observations of gas prices in the area. The major influence on gas prices is what the market will bear. That is also supported by the significant difference in prices in the little area on the gas map near the intersection of I40 and NC54 near Burlington. The prices are lower there than even Greensboro where the pipeline storage facility is located and Raleigh/Durham.
If I'm following you correctly, you are assuming the COST of the gas at the stations in NC and SC is the same. I'd wager this isn't the case. Also, total fed and state tax on gasoline in NC is $0.486 while SC is $0.352. As for Burlington/Haw River having cheaper gas, they always have as I am from that area. I imagine it has something to do with them buying at such large quantities seeing how they are huge truck stops there along the interstate.
The wholesale price may differ, but that is a part of the manipulaiton of the prices. It has been reported by several sources that stations are almost "magically" kept at a certain profit level, which included the wholesale cost changing. To think the cost of fuel delivered to one side of the NC/SC border would be near a $0.10 per gallon difference is difficult to believe. Yes, which if used as the differential shows a difference of $0.134 per gallon with everything else the same. Yet, as I noted the price charged at the pump from NC to SC is not that amount, but a lower differential. It proves the price of fuel is not affected as much by the taxes as the market forces. If that were the case the prices for all huge truck stops along the interstate would have similar prices, but that is not the case. In the latest shortage they were still cheaper while other stations were running out and trying to buy more.
I hear what you are saying. Just to play devil's advocate, perhaps the station in SC was selling at a higher gross profit margin than the one in NC that was selling just above cost? That station in SC could afford to do so since the owner knows the stations along the NC are higher. For example if I own a station in Dillon SC and you own one in Rowland, NC, and we both sell our gas for $3.25, I am making more money than you. Even if I sell it for 5 cents cheaper, I am still getting a higher GP% not to mention most of the business since I'm cheaper than you.
That would be the most likely case and thus showing the taxes are not a primary driving force in the cost of fuel.
Just go to the Gas Buddy map if you want the answer. Stations adjacent to the major highways are higher, way higher. Stations a mile or two down the road are 30 cents cheaper. You do the math, or the calculation in the greed factor. I've been fed the supply and demand theory that then changed to refinery loses that then changed to flucuating markets and then to a bad economy. I don't berlieve the BS anymore and I'm believing the evident truth laying in front of our eyes.
That's what I've been saying all along! If a butterfly flaps his wings halfway around the world, then the gas prices go up. :lol: Years ago when they were having the rolling blackouts in California, my mother was out there and kept saying she didn't believe it was a real problem, that the electric companies were causing it. Guess what? She was right! Enron anyone?? I am coming to believe it's the same thing here. :beathorse:
Not true in Mebane, Exit 153, 152, 150 are the prices Go Wulfpack mentioned in his earlier post. They are the cheapest within an hour of this area. When I left the mtns on Saturday afternoon the little town I was in north of Marion had just reached the $2.99 mark. I come home and its still 3.89 at DR Wells. I'm not picking on Wells because it was 3.81 at 40/42 Sat. night. I just paid 3.49 in Selma at the BP on Hwy 301 this morning.
Actually it is. I was there helping my brother in law move this weekend. The Sheets station at Exit 153 was at 3.29, the (I can't remember of it was a Pilot) station at Exit 150 was $3.15. A few miles up Hwy 49, though, it was $3.12 at a Shell station.
