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Last Updated: 03/25/2005
The Rockbridge Report is produced
under the supervision of the Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communications
at Washington and Lee University.
Reporting supervisors: Prof. Doug Cumming
Technical supervisor:
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Local gas station managers
face anxious customers By Nazo Burgy Average gas prices are reaching an all-time high around the nation, and Lexington and Rockbridge County are no exception. Take the Exxon at Stop-In on N. Main Street. Regular gas is currently at $2.09 per gallon, 20 cents higher than a month ago. “It’s kind of ridiculous for it to go up that much,” said Lynn Thompson, assistant manager of Stop-In.
Lexington's Stop-In station grapples with rising gas costs (Photo: Nazo Burgy) Thompson said her customers have all had the same reactions to the “ridiculous” prices. “Customers ask us when the prices are going to come down,” said Thompson. She estimated that this summer the gas prices may get close to $3 a gallon. Dennis Gilbert, a Buena Vista native, said that the current prices are the highest he has seen in his 46 years in living in the area. Carl Tolley, manager of the BP gas station on Lee Highway, said that his customers have the same reactions. “Everybody bitches about prices,” said Tolley. Across the street from the BP, Jason Harris manages the Hunter Hill Citgo. Harris said that Citgo’s corporate office had instructed him not to be the first one in the area to break $2.00. In addition, since the Citgo has a competitor so close, Harris’ corporate office asks him to send in the prices of nearby competitors daily. Most of the time, Harris said, the two gas stations are within a few cents of each other. Harris said that his customers do not realize that the decision to raise the price of gas comes from the corporate office. “Everyone thinks we increase [the price] for the fun of it,” said Harris. The Hunter Hill Citgo is currently at $2.09 per gallon, but was as low as $1.39 just 18 months ago. Bob Whitehouse, who has lived in Rockbridge County for over six years, said that he has become accustomed to the rising gas prices since, he said, he has “no control over it.” Many customers and retailers alike believe the hike in gas prices is a result of the war overseas, a greater demand and smaller supply. Professor Michael Smitka, an economics professor at Washington and Lee University, attributes the rising gas prices to the growing world population and the supply of gas remaining the same. Smitka also added that the demand for gas increases during the winter because of cold temperatures. “If there’s unusually high demand due to, say, a cold winter, gas prices can move inside the U.S. even if international prices for oil don’t move,” said Smitka. |
A look at the area's prices for a gallon of regular gas (as of March 23):
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