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Team coverageGasoline prices are falling all over the country but not here! Profits and market trends appear to be the reasons.
The price for a gallon of gas at one Salt Lake City gas station is $4.09. That's less than the state average but much more than some people are paying in neighboring states.
Tonight, the governor's office shows us one explanation. AAA reports the average price of unleaded in Utah is $4.16 a gallon. But in Colorado and Nevada, gas is at least 20 cents cheaper per gallon.
In Arizona, gas is 30 cents cheaper than in Utah. Driver Steve McFarlane says, "It's frustrating. It's pretty annoying actually."
"When the price of oil goes up, they hurry and change their prices up. But when prices come down, they're slow to do it," driver Brian Moore says.
Juliette Tennard, chief economist for Gov. Jon Huntsman, says things are not that simple. Today the governor's office released its latest data tracking gas trends back to the year 2000. Tennard says, "What this really shows is that historically, as prices are increasing, Utah's prices are lower than the national average, but as they're decreasing Utah's prices stay above the national average."
"As prices were going up, margins were tightening. And now as those prices start falling, they're making a little more money," explained John Hill, with the Utah Petroleum Marketers and Retailers Association.
Oil companies like Maverik and Tesoro tell KSL Newsradio they are not gouging customers. In fact, credit card fees keep them from making much at the pump.
Company officials say Utah's higher prices are because of our location and cyclical demand. They also say our prices are always slower to go up and slower to come back down.
Hill says, "Utah follows or lags behind the national market." But Hill can't fully explain why and neither can the governor's chief economist. They both offer a plethora of reasons such as: the price of crude oil, refining it, transporting it, consumer demand and market differences from state-to-state.
But there is something we can't ignore: The refineries are making money and so are gas stations. According to Hill, retailers are making about 20 cents for every gallon of gas, a little more than usual to make up for previous leaner months.
Hill says the gasoline market in Utah is slowly but gradually correcting. As demand decreases and oil prices drop, Hill and the governor's chief economist think it won't be long before we too pay less than $4 a gallon.
For more information on fuel price factors in Salt Lake City, click the related link to the right of the story.
E-mail: gkennedy@ksl.com
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
