Sunday, May 1, 2022, 5PM: Lunchtime in Lowell on Saturday, and I saw some stations had hiked to $4.39. What?! This 40 cent hike from $3.99 has been working its way through west Michigan this weekend. You can still get gas at $3.99, so go fill up.
Now, what happened here? If you look back at my postings the past three weeks, I was confused by the lack of hikes during April. Since April 6, prices to retailers have been working higher, not so much due to a new surge in oil prices, but rather because of seasonal trends (as summer approaches) and healthy demand. That ugly new price of $4.39 is actually consistent with wholesale prices right now. It was the nice reprieve (relatively speaking) of no hikes during Lent that was curious. Again, I am not complaining.
Not sure if this a consolation, but Gas Game friend @mathhombre (Twitter) sent in this page that shows that for the first time in at least five years, gasoline is more expensive in the U.S. than in Mexico. -EA
I’m beginning to see more and more 7-Eleven stuff at Speedway stores. I wonder if they also are holding the company back from issuing price hikes. It will be an interesting metric to watch going forward.
Looks like the long overdue hike has arrived in NE IL $4.59/4.69 in Cook County This is still tame relative to today’s cost
Paxman356…:Last year after the merger it looked more like Speedway was pushing hikes MORE quickly than before at times. Maybe the new management team was not in place for some time after the merger. Anyway…it has certainly thrown my prediction game off for this market.
Indy area Speedway hike to $3.199.
No increase in NW Indiana today.
$4.099 in Ohio. Sw corner, again goes higher, to $4.159.
RBOB also up 16 cents today.
Looks like Family Express in NW Indiana attempting a $4.49 increase, we will see if it spreads to other stations.
Once again this evening Speedway looks to be 30+c below my calculated price hike target (4.87). That is with little or no retreat from Monday’s hike. We could see a 20c rise pm Friday. Or they could just wait, again. into the new week.
And another 14 cent jump in RBOB. This could be painful.
My calculation based on historic margins places Speedway’s next hike here in NE IL at $4.99. Soon! But they have been coming in low and slow, so might get lucky with a $4.79 hike.