Comment on the June 11 prediction: I am not going to let it bother me that I was WRONG, looking for another troublesome hike two weeks ago, to $3.89. Instead, prices started dropping (finally), and $3.29 was spotted in Lansing this afternoon.
Sunday, June 25, 2023, 6:00 PM: Ah ha! I did it! By making such an outlandish prediction two weeks ago, I finally got the person who is on the price button at Big Red and elsewhere to pay attention. Since the beginning of May, oil prices have hovered around $70 a barrel. Yet, from early May to mid-June, wholesale gas prices rose more than 25 cents a gallon, creating a foundation for retail prices to stay above $3.59 on average. After the June 11 prediction, though, they took care of the squirrels at the refineries (or whatever was keeping prices elevated), and some natural, Gas Game-like competition returned. For example, we are down to $3.19 a gallon on Alpine Ave. in Comstock Park.
(Let’s be clear that I am joking that I had any effect on all of this.)
If prices were to reset over the next few days, we would be looking at $3.49 a gallon, and I can imagine such a price reset going into the long holiday weekend. But, the evidence is not compelling that a hike is imminent. So, I don’t know. But, given that I need to fill up, I am heading to Comstock Park on Monday morning, on the way to work. -EA
Speedway in Grayling, MI moved to $3.599, the local GPM Admiral/Marathon is down to $3.259 (from $3.359).
$3.89 NW indiana
$2.999 in west-central Ohio.
Speedway near me happy to sit 14c higher than the Delta Sonic within sight and 17c higher than Murphy Express nearby. It sure is a different Gas Game they are playing these days