Gasoline prices falling in region
<a href=www.pottstownmercury.com>Read URL Margaret Fitzcharles, mfitzcharles@pottsmerc.com March 27, 2003
With a long, cold winter, a strike in Venezuela and now, the war in Iraq, area motorists watched as gasoline prices climbed to all-time highs in the tri-county area. They grumbled when they stopped to fill their tanks and paid $1.65 or more for a gallon of regular gas. Now, prices are on the decline, with several area stations charging around $1.55 for a gallon of regular. But will it last? In Chester County, Ken Miller of the Coventry Hess Mart said gasoline prices at his station went from $1.39 or so in late fall to $1.65 a gallon. Miller said prices have fluctuated so often recently that he wasn’t sure of this year’s low price. He said he believes it was $1.39 a gallon. "Right now, we’re kind of staying the same," Miller said. He was reluctant to speculate, however, on whether gasoline prices in the area might drop even more. "We watch the futures on a day-to-day basis, but if I knew what was going to happen, I’d be rich," Miller joked. The story is the same at most service stations. Tom Munir of Pottstown Sunoco on Charlotte Street said Wednesday that his prices are also down since they spiked at $1.66 a gallon, compared with the $1.35 charged for a gallon of regular late last fall. "First it went way up there, but the price didn’t go up on the market," Munir said. Munir believes the harsh winter and talk of war had oil companies expecting a shortage ahead, which caused the price increases. "Now our prices are actually going down," he said. "Things are more stable." Munir, whose station was charging $1.54 for a gallon of regular Wednesday, said he believes the price of gasoline will continue to fall. Matt Brown of the Turkey Hill on East Philadelphia Avenue in Boyertown said gasoline prices, at $1.56 for a gallon of regular Wednesday, are on the way down in Berks County, too. The Boyertown Turkey Hill’s price peaked at $1.65, said Brown, who was reluctant to speculate on future prices. "Personally, I think it’s going to depend on whatever happens with the war," Brown said.