Oct 17, 2008 11:17 pm US/Eastern
Drivers Feel Relief At The Pump
MALDEN (WBZ) ―
Gas for less than $3! For the first time in eight months, the state average for a gallon of regular self-serve has dipped to $2.96. That's the average, which means many stations are charging even less.
At Total Gas in Malden, it's $2.47 a gallon.
"It's so cheap!" said customer Peniel Muteba. "I want to go get a bottle or something and fill up some more."
There were long lines leading to the pumps. "It's the lowest it's been in a long time," said Diane Henderson. "I'm hoping it'll stay down. I'm hoping it'll be fair. It has been unfair all summer."
But customers will notice prices are not that low everywhere.
At a Mobil station in Brookline, a gallon of regular self serve is $3.29. The owner, Elias Audy, says it's because, as a franchise, his shop is bound to the prices Mobil charges him for gas.
"I don't control the cost of inventory. They do. I don't even control when I receive gas. They do."
Independent stations, on the other hand, can shop around and negotiate for better prices.
Audy says Mobil should lower its prices more so he can give his customers a break.
"I see, like an invisible vacuum cleaner siphoning away all of our profits, our cash," Audy said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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