Why are our gas prices in Washington now higher than Greenville? | Eastern NC Now

For years, Greenville has been the capital of high gas prices in eastern North Carolina, with Washington usually with some of the lowest prices.  Things have changed.

Today, in driving to the gun show in Greenville, and taking care of some other business while there, I bought gas at Duck Thru fof $3.36 a gallon, but on getting back to Washington, I saw that Duck Thru here was charging $3.44 a gallon.  Duck Thru is one of the gas stations that follows the lead of others up or down, so it is a good comparison.  Driving around in Greenville, I saw some others at $3.36, a $3.38, and quite a few $3.40s and $3.41s. I saw one as low as $3.34. Of course there were some, like the usual suspect, Speedway, in the $3.50s.

Here in Washington, the lowest price was the 76 station across from the new city police building, which was at $3.42.  Most were at $3.44, including the local station most noted for reducing gas prices, Murphy Express, with some at $3.49 and some still over $3.50.

What is up that our local gas prices are now some of the highest around?

I noted the same thing on a trip to the Outer Banks a few weeks ago.  Beach gas prices are usually also on the high side, but this summer gas was cheaper on the Outer Banks than in Washington.  We bought gas at Duck Thru in Nags Head on the way back home, and noted that Duck Thru in Washington when we reached home a couple of hours later was several cents higher than in Nags Head.

We should keep in mind that Speedway is the brand that locally has been aggressively pushing higher gas prices.