Tulsa gasoline headed to $3.50 and maybe higher
BY ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Tulsa retail gasoline is headed over $3.50 per gallon for the first time since fall 2012.
QuikTrip stations upped their price of regular unleaded 13 cents to $3.499 Thursday. Company spokesman Michael Thornbrugh blamed the persistent rise on wholesale market prices, Bloomberg’s average of regional suppliers jumped to $3.00, not including tax, by Thursday morning, a 50-cent increase in only a month.
“I’m not surprised,” Thornbrugh said. “The wholesale market continues to skyrocket. I don’t see anything in the near future to change that.”
Refineries already are beginning to shift into “turnarounds” in which they soon start producing more expensive and environmentally friendly summer blends of gasoline.
The U.S. average retail gasoline price is now at $3.63, the highest ever for this time of year, according to the Associated Press. The national average has risen every day since Jan. 18.
“The bottom line is that QuikTrip customers hate it and we hate it,” Thornbrugh said.
Many Tulsa stations will be selling fuel well over $3.50, especially those which sell E0, or gasoline not blended with ethanol. QuikTrip sells E10, which is up to 10 percent ethanol.
