The Reason Behind Tulsa's High Gas Prices

There's a jump at the pump in Fridayâ€™s gas gauge. A gallon of regular unleaded is going for more than $2.79 in the Tulsa metro area. That's above the national average of $2.75. For years, the

Friday, August 17th 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

There's a jump at the pump in Fridayâ€™s gas gauge. A gallon of regular unleaded is going for more than $2.79 in the Tulsa metro area. That's above the national average of $2.75. For years, the Tulsa area had some of the lowest gas prices in the country. The News On 6â€™s Joshua Brakhage reports that's not the case anymore.

Regular unleaded is selling between $2.79 and $2.85 a gallon. Down the turnpike, it's at least a dime cheaper. Some drivers in Oklahoma City are paying as little as $2.59 a gallon.

Viewers asked us: what's driving the price up? So, we took their questions to an expert.

"First of all, it's supply and demand more than anything else,â€ said marketing professor Dr. Brian Chabowski.

And Chabowski says outside of Thanksgiving, there's no higher demand than the summer travel season.

The price of summer is even higher in Tulsa. Since 1991, local filling stations have volunteered to sell a higher-priced, low-emissions gasoline blend to help with pollution. The cleaner-burning fuel sells from June to mid-September.

Air quality watch dogs say paying extra now is preventing paying a lot more in the future.

"Fuel programs all around the nation are one of the first things that happens when an area goes on that Dirty Air List, more expensive gasoline which none of us want to have,â€ said Nancy Graham of INCOG.

Dallas, Houston, Memphis and St. Louis are all on the EPA's Dirty Air List. All use specially blended gas, and all have significantly cheaper gas prices than in Tulsa.

Dallas and Houston use a 10% ethanol blend to help reduce emissions. St. Louis uses reformulated gasoline, and Memphis uses the exact low emissions blend Tulsa does and is charging 30 cents less.

â€œBig companies here in town, they like to hold the price up for some reason in the summertime,â€ said gas station owner Mike Numair.

Numair says he often feels the pressure from the big boys. One major chain told us they shoot for 12-cents profit on the gallon. Numair says he only needs a few pennies to turn a profit.

"Really, we can survive with 2, 3 cents on the gallon. And our prices, retail wise, are usually not more, most likely not more than four or five pennies at a time per gallon,â€ Numair said.

The EPA estimates cleaner-burning blends costs 4 to 8 cents more per gallon. Tulsa's environmentally-friendly fuel costs even more because we can't get it locally.

Tulsa-area refineries don't make the low-emissions gas we burn in the summer.

Chabowski says chains like Shell charge even more because of their company's commitment to go green.

"If I want to feel good about still using gasoline, but not damaging the environment too much, I might want to pay a little bit more to go to Shell,â€ Chabowski said.

Chabowski says the Internet age plays a part as well. Instant access to information can make an immediate impact at the price at the pump. Stations want to react to changing demand, so they don't keep as much gas on hand. That means we feel the impact of disasters like hurricanes that much more because many stations don't have a back-up plan.

To see average gas prices across the country, click here.

Watch the video: The Truth Behind The Pain At The Pump