Gasoline Price Steady Despite Pipe Closure

Inland Northwest gasoline prices are holding steady despite a disruption in the Yellowstone pipeline, officials said Monday.

Ed Sharman, spokesman for the Inland Automobile Association (AAA) in Spokane, said the 101,000-member group has seen only small increases that typically occur as the weather and highway traffic heat up.

“Prices normally go up this time of year, so the question is how much” will they go up, he said.

Other factors, such as taxes and competition, also influence gasoline prices. For example, because of higher taxes, gasoline actually costs more in Missoula, before the point where the pipeline is shut off, than it does in Spokane.

An AAA survey of 50 gas stations in Washington and Idaho found self-service unleaded gasoline averaging $1.16 a gallon prior to Easter weekend. That was 3 cents more than a year ago and a dime less than the price at Christmas.

Many Spokane stations still sell regular unleaded for less than the Easter price. The average price for regular unleaded in North Spokane was $1.11 per gallon, according to a survey of 28 stations contacted Monday by The SpokesmanReview.

A spokesman for Yellowstone Pipe Line Co. warned that the disruption could add 4 cents a gallon to the cost of gasoline sold in Spokane.

But Conoco said it was stockpiling fuel in Spokane in anticipation of the pipeline closing.

Dan Murphy, general manager of Fairco Inc. in Spokane and a Conoco distributor, said the industry is too competitive to try to take advantage of the public with sudden price hikes.

“If you don’t stay competitive, you lose you’re volume,” he said.