Josh Troy
The Press Register
Prices spiked as much as thirty cents per gallon at some gas stations in Coahoma County a little more than week ago immediately following the attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.
Even with the sudden increase, local gas prices are still below the Mississippi average. The average gas price in Mississippi is $2.323 per gallon as of Tuesday and it was $2.215 a week earlier, according to the AAA website. The average was higher than the current rate one year ago today at $2.54 one year ago today.
Coahoma County’s average gas price is $2.307 per gallon, which is $0.016 below the state average.
According to the article, “National Gas Price Average Jumps by a Dime in One Week” on the AAA website, the national average was $2.66 per gallon on Monday, which was a 10-cent increase from Monday, Sept. 16. The national average one year ago was $2.855.
Steve Schone, AAA Vice President of Public Affairs and Government Relations, cited three reasons Mississippi’s gas prices are usually lower than the national average.
He said Mississippi has the third lowest state gasoline tax in the country. He noted Arkansas is No. 11 and Alabama is No. 10.
“Secondly, since you are located close to the coast, distribution costs for getting the oil from refineries costs less for the southeastern states,” Schone said.
He also said refining costs are lower for southeastern states because there are fewer regulations.
“As for the impact on Mississippi, as of this morning the state currently is tied with Louisiana for the lowest average gas prices in the nation at $2.32 a gallon,” said Schone Monday morning. “That is up about 9 cents from a month ago, but remains 21 cents lower than a year ago. We don’t track gas prices in every market in the state, but specifically in the Southaven area, prices are currently averaging $2.28 a gallon, down a penny from Friday and down 22 cents from a year ago.”
Buddy Williams, who works at Rankin Service Station on State Street, said gas prices usually increase when there is a disaster. He specifically recalled an increase after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.
Most customers have not said much about the increase.
“They haven’t really talked much about it,” Williams said. “They, of course, naturally don’t like the prices going up. They don’t understand why is it going up? I don’t know if they don’t watch the news about Saudi Arabia – the bombing over there. I don’t know if that’s what they haven’t watched. I just tell them the market determines what we have to charge. I haven’t had too many people fuss about it or anything.”
Williams said when prices increase up to 15 cents, he hears even less from customers.
“When I was a kid growing up, the gas pretty much stayed the same,” he said. “It didn’t fluctuate that much. Now it’s market-driven and the stock market is going to drive it up or take it down. And people have gotten used to it. They don’t fuss.”
Williams did say tourists who come from areas such as Chicago recognize Mississippi’s gas prices are below average, but local customers may not understand that.
“I don’t think they realize we’re one of the cheaper states as far as gas prices,” he said.
Gresham Petroleum sells gas to some gas stations and manager John Morson has received questions about it.
“They just want to know why it went up,” he said. “All I can tell them is the market went up. Everybody knows about Saudi Arabia getting bombed.”
Coahoma County has felt the impact in certain ways.
“We’re so farmer related,” Morson said. “Farmers spend more money getting their crops in so they’re having to pay a little bit more money. Although compared to last year, it’s actually a little cheaper than it was last year for fuel.”
Morson said some individuals commute to other communities for work and are impacted by the gas prices.
“Everybody’s going to want the cheapest they can get, so they get upset when it goes up,” Morson said. “They forget when it’s lower than it was (a year ago).
“The good thing is that, from our perspective, we’re close to the Gulf Coast, so our supplies are better than if we were in Atlanta or something like that.”
Schone is confident the gas prices will continue to decrease nationally.
“Crude oil prices have started to draw back,” he said. “In fact, the national average has begun to drop from a few days ago, standing at only 6 cents a gallon higher than at this time last month. This is compared to a 9-cent overnight jump from Tuesday to Wednesday of last week. If Saudi oil production comes back online swiftly, which is what we are hearing, then this gas price spike impact is short-term.”
Morson said some individuals in Memphis suffered more than many after the recent increase.
“I know Memphis ran out of fuel for a few days, I guess because people panicked wanting fuel as fast as they could,” he said. “You’ll see fuel drop in the next few weeks.”
Morson also expects prices to decrease soon.
“It’ll slowly come down,” he said. “Saudi Arabia has come out and said they’re going to replenish their production. That’s more national because we’re dictated by New York Harbor prices.”
Williams said the prices at Rankin Service Station increased 19 cents in a week to $2.489. While that is a higher cost than other gas stations in Clarksdale, he said there are issues to consider other than the price.
Rankin Service Station sells non-ethanol gas, which Williams said runs better on cars and helps with the mileage.
“You can look at that and it will show you stations that have non-ethanol gas,” Williams said. “So many tourists will come in and ask, is this the station with non-ethanol gas? They’re looking for the non-ethanol gas.”
