The big scam...

I'm a careful shopper, most of the time, so it shouldn't surprise people that I've been hooked on www.gasbuddy.com for a while. Not just since the hurricanes that drove gas up to over $3 a gallon here in St. Louis.

I have been keeping up with gas prices since we left Oklahoma City back in May, 2003, and comparing them to St. Louis. It's been consistantly within a dime for the most part, until recently.

As oil prices began to fall, Oklahoma City's gas prices fell accordingly (although not proportionately compared to the /gal price at the same /barrel price this past summer), but St. Louis' gas prices did not. (and even more interesting, the poorer neighborhoods, which typically are a few cents lower in price were HIGHER than the wealthy neighborhoods)

In fact, Oklahoma City's gas has fallen to below $2/gal in many, many places, but in St. Louis, today's prices average between $2.38-$2.45/gal.

So, I checked Springfield, Mo; Branson, Mo; and Joplin, Mo; and it's within a nickle of Oklahoma City. Why not St. Louis any longer?

I don't get it. And to make it even more interesting, I buy my gas from an Oklahoma owned chain here in St. Louis (QT), and they're not charging $2.38/gal in Oklahoma.

The other night I checked Springfield, MA, just for kicks, and we're paying within a nickle of them.
Two weeks ago, as Oklahomans enjoyed 20-30 cents lower than St. Louis, I checked losangelesgasprices.com and St. Louis was within 10-15 cents a gallon.

Now, I understand that in mandated ethanol states, we will pay a little more for gas, but 30-45 cents a gallon higher than our neighbor to the south, when it's been within 10 cents/gal for several years?
C'mon....