Better get gas in … Chicago??

November 16th, 2007 at 05:16pm Thomas V. Bona

This is just weird. Usually, Chicago has the highest gas prices in the state, with Rockford second or even lower. But recently, with barrels of oil nearing $100, Rockford has pulled ahead of Chicago. As of this morning, the average gallon of regular unleaded was $3.25 versus $3.20 in Chicago, according to AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com.

Angry motorists will be quick to say it’s “gouging” but state officials, the Better Business Bureau and industry experts have all told me there’s no evidence of that. Anyway, gouging is only a term that legally comes into play during a disaster, such as a hurricane.

I talked to Bill Fleischli, executive vice president of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association/Illinois Association of Convenience Stores today. He said the reason Chicago prices haven’t gone up as much as ours is because Chicago is dominated by gas stations owned by the big oil companies, which can easily withstand the jump in wholesale costs. Basically, he said, they don’t raise prices as much and count on a large volume of customers buying other stuff to make their profit.

Meanwhile, Rockford has almost all independent gas stations, and they’re already fighting thin margins and can’t afford to keep prices down. Fleischli said part of the reason Rockford is so much higher than Downstate gas stations is because it’s a tougher, tighter market.

As always, it could be worse - Illinois on average has the 13th highest gas prices in the nation. But if you’re anywhere else in Illinois (or in Wisconsin, for that matter), go ahead and fill up.

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