Competition, Not Hurricane Florence, Affecting Gas Prices, Says GasBuddy.com

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Gas prices are higher in Fort Wayne than most of the rest of the state and competition in Allen County may be to blame.

GasBuddy.com says the average price per gallon in Fort Wayne is $2.94, which is a 25-cent increase from last week.  That compares to the Indianapolis average of $2.75 which jumped six cents in the past week.  The statewide average is $2.85, an increase of three cents from the previous week.

Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com, says the spike in gas prices in Fort Wayne is due to a process called “price cycling.”

DeHaan says the ownership of one group of gas stations may decide to lower their gas prices a few cents to draw more customers.  Then a competing group of gas stations will lower their prices as a race to see who can go the lowest before having to mark up their prices to make up the difference lost over the past several days. 

Sometimes the “price cycling” may happen over a period of two days to two weeks.

“Fort Wayne gas prices have not seen any real jump in the last month, which is rare because stations were selling so much lower [for so long&#93 under costs,” says DeHaan.

DeHaan says he expects gas prices in Fort Wayne to match once again with prices throughout the state and surrounding areas once the gas stations are able to make up the difference on what they lost over the past four weeks.

One thing that has not affected gas prices is Hurricane Florence, which DeHaan says did not affect oil refinery operations in the U.S.

“Supply was fine.  There was no real hit to those sensitive refineries like we saw last year when Hurricane Harvey hit and shut down a third of refinery capacity in the U.S.,” says DeHaan.

“None of [the refineries were&#93 shut down this time around and that’s why we can positively say that storm did not make an impact on prices,” according to DeHaan.

Photo: Getty Images / BG004 / Bauer-Griffin