Sanpete residents have long complained of feeling ripped off by the exorbitant gasoline prices they pay, which are generally significantly higher than gasoline prices in surrounding counties and are far above nationwide averages.
On Jan. 5, the Messenger surveyed Sanpete County gas prices plus prices at stations in Nephi and Salina. Price differentials showed that, indeed, residents’ concerns are justified. On Jan. 6, Americans, on average, paid $3.34 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline (source, Bloomberg News). Sanpete paid an average of $3.51 that day, with the exception of people in the Gunnison area, who are enjoying that most rare of opportunities: a gas war.
The pump price at the Gunnison Maverik and the GCI Sinclair was only $2.69 compared to $3.47 in Ephraim stations of the same brands. (Notice: prices do not include the 9/10ths of a cent that all stations use in their pricing.)
Results of our Jan. 6 survey are as follows:
| City | Station | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Fountain Green | Sinclair | $3.49 |
| Moroni | Sinclair | $3.54 |
| Conoco | $3.59 | |
| Fairview | Miller’s Chevron | $3.45 |
| Tesoro | $3.59 | |
| Mt. Pleasant | Sinclair | $3.44 |
| Silver Eagle | $3.45 | |
| Maverik | $3.44 | |
| Ephraim | Sinclair | $3.46 |
| Maverik | $3.46 | |
| Manti | Top Stop | $3.49 |
| Sinclair | $3.48 | |
| Sterling | Silver Eagle | $3.78 |
| Gunnison | Maverik | $2.69 |
| GCI Sinclair | $2.69 | |
| Gunnison Market | $2.72 | |
| Salina | Loves | $2.69 |
| TA | $2.75 | |
| Exxon | $2.66 | |
| Nephi | Flying J | $3.30 |
| Chevron | $3.39 | |
| Walker’s | $3.37 | |
| Exxon | $3.30 | |
| National Avg. | All | $3.34 |
Sanpete and adjacent county locations, as well as the
national average.
Sanpete residents have long paid around 20 cents more per gallon compared to their neighbors to the north. The excuse once given by Maverik officials questioned earlier was that the difference was because of “transportation costs.” When it was pointed out that the Maverik stores in Salina and Richfield, which are farther from the refinery than Sanpete County, are considerably lower, they said they would get back to us, but never did. Nor have they explained why gas at the Mt. Pleasant store is always 2 cents cheaper than the Ephraim store.
We cited prices in Salina because it is adjacent to Sanpete County and many Sanpete residents regularly use stations there as a fuel stop. Ever since the Love’s station at the freeway interchange brought its dramatically lower pricing, Salina stations, including the newly constructed Maverik station, have had to match Love’s prices in order to survive.
In the past six months, the price differential between the Salina Maverik and the Ephraim and Mt. Pleasant stores has been as much as 88 cents per gallon.
After building their new station in Gunnison, the Maverik station there has matched Salina prices. As a consequence, Gunnison has seen gas prices tumble far below what the rest of the county is paying.
That’s good news, right? Not if your name is Kim Pickett, and you are the owner of the GIC Sinclair station located directly across the street from the Gunnison Maverik. Pickett believes Maverik is specifically trying to put his station out of business. He says that he understands the need for Maverik to match Love’s prices in Salina, but that Gunnison is over twenty miles away. “We’re completely out of that market,” Pickett says, “so the only explanation is that Maverik is trying to put the rest of us in Gunnison out of business.”
To bolster his argument, Pickett cites the dramatically higher Maverik prices at Ephraim and Mt. Pleasant. “Why aren’t they doing it up there?” he asks.
That’s a question the rest of us would like answered as well. We asked Maverik about it and so far, they have failed to reply.
Asked if he thought he was arguing for higher prices, Pickett conceded that it could be interpreted that way. “But these guys (Maverik) are so much bigger than us local guys. Once they get us out of their way, watch what happens to prices then.”
We spoke with Adam Suess, Sinclair’s vice president of government and external relations, who said that all Sinclair stations are independently owned and the corporation does not control any retail pricing. He said that many things are impacting current gas prices, the most important of which is the price of crude oil, which stands as of this date at $78.85/barrel.
Suess stated that the government’s interference with pipeline construction, its moratorium on oil leases on federal land, and its pressure on financial institutions to not lend to fossil fuels companies has significantly driven crude prices higher.
Happily, everyone can do things to lower the price they pay. Maverik offers what they call their Nitro Card, which is not a credit card and that acts just like a debit card that avoids the swipe charges station owners pay to the credit card companies. The Nitro Card gives users 6 cents off per gallon and can be applied for through the company’s website.
Sinclair offers the same type of thing through their DinoPay card, which acts just like a debit card and gives you an automatic 10 cents per gallon discount. But if you go further and sign up for Sinclair’s Mobile Advantage Account that works off the same card, they’ll give you a whopping 20 cents per gallon discount, which would make Sinclair’s prices significantly lower than their competitors in most markets.
With gas prices what they are, consumers are well served by taking advantage of every lower pricing strategy possible in today’s market. But, as always, buyer beware: these offers can change without notice.
