Price of Gas in Alaska

by Robert L. Gisel


The Juneau Empire just ran an article on the price of gas at the pump In Juneau, Alaska, fluctuations of, prompting me to reply with this comment:

This time last year when I flew from LA to Anchorage the only thing cheaper in Alaska was the gas. No joke. At $3.29 a gallon in LA it was, lowest in town, $2.99 a gallon, went up to $3.09 (lowest station) in the two weeks I was there. Still it was over $3.30 in LA. I was told that was because it was the gas refined in Alaska.

"Milsec" above logged these prices from Juneau:

6/05/08 $4.059 gal $122.54 Barrel
6/11/08 $4.159 gal $128.86 Barrel
6/23/08 $4.419 gal $140.21 Barrel
7/04/08 $4.499 gal $145.29 Barrel
7/09/08 $4.499 gal $145.08 Barrel
7/19/08 $4.649 gal $128.88 Barrel
8/15/08 $4.599 gal $113.77 Barrel

In Sacramento, north side, the price has been over $4.00 a gallon since June. Mid July or so it finally hit at least $4.43, lowest stations, Kwick Stop and Exon AM/PM, and as high as $4.69 even $4.75 at Chevrons and Shell Stations. This month it finally came back under $4.00. Today the price has posted at $3.72, lowest, to 10 to 20 cents higher in other stations. All of these prices were higher yet in South Sacramento.

Daily the gas stations here are given a wholesale price figure and daily the price is raised or lowered, or not, according to the competitiveness and goodwill of the station manager.

So why not gas from the refineries in Alaska into Juneau instead of Saudi gas from Seattle? I highly doubt that it is Alaska gas from Seattle. I'd think you'd have a better chance to get cheaper gas where you produce it, even in California which refines gas and still runs among the highest prices in the nation, at least the south 48. Talk to your own, Governor or whoever will listen, as very possibly the cheapest (and home grown) gas available to Alaska is refined in Alaska.

There's always the alternate route: LimitlessEnergy.blogspot.com. Yank your drive train and put in an electric engine.

Let's face it, price at the pump corresponds to the daily spot price of crude oil and that is speculated and manipulated for profit making purposes. The only guarantee of no worry of the price of gas at the pump is don't pump any. There are alternatives, doable and affordable, that make much more sense right now.