How A Cheeseburger Helped Me Lose the Gas Game

Comment on the June 9 posting: There was no prediction, but prices rose to $3.19 that day, and after the usual daily slippage, back to $3.19 again this past Monday.

Wednesday, June 30, 2021, 3PM: Apologies for three weeks since my last post. Energy markets have been kind of quiet, and I have been a bit distracted. That distraction prevented me from a post this Sunday that would have warned of a possible hike. Instead, prices reset on Monday to $3.19, ahead of the Independence Day weekend, and I have a short story of how I really lost the Gas Game that day.

Around 12:30 this past Monday, I received an e-mail from a reader suggesting the “GPM” stations were trying to initiate a hike to $3.19. I was in the middle of a Zoom meeting, but I took a moment to figure out what that meant, and I learned something new. GPM provides wholesale gasoline to several brands of retailers, including Valero, Marathon, and Shell, but of course, not Speedway. If the reader was correct, at lunchtime on Monday, the hike was on.

At 1PM, my meeting was over, and I was hungry, so I quickly ended up at a McDonald’s. Within eyesite was a gas station advertising $2.99 a gallon, and I thought about filling up after I filled myself up. After going through the drive-through routine, as I reached into the bag for my cheeseburger, I looked at the station again — $3.19! Arrrgggh! I still had enough gas for a few days, so I drove away.

All this being said, wholesale prices were in a relatively tight range in June, hence the hike back to $3.19 rather than something higher. Prices remain tame today, so we should expect stability through the holiday weekend. We’ll see what next week brings. -EA

Updated: June 30, 2021 — 3:20 pm

8 Comments

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  1. Gas prices going up to $3.25 in the Indy area.

  2. At least if you had the GREEDWay app, you probably could have gotten the “before” price!

    It may only be $0.20, but multiply that by ten gallons, times however many times in recent memory one finds themself on the losing end, and it starts to add up!

  3. Back to $3.45/3.55 in Chicagoland. The “new” Speedway continues with limiting decreases after the previous hike, so margins over time averaging higher I believe.

  4. $3.29’s showing up at Admirals stations in West Michigan

  5. Up to $3.199 in SW Ohio. Filled up yesterday at the Madisonville UDF at $2.779

  6. GPM stations, led by Admiral are now at $3.299 in Northern Michigan

  7. I see $3.29 listed in Niles MI just on the other side of the state line from South Bend.

    Time to visit Costco for $2.91. SBN avg 3.15.

  8. Niles MI back down $2.97-$3.19.

    SBN a bit lower.

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