San Benito County residents are getting a break at the gas pumps
this week, with prices down 14 cents from last month, and the
average cost for unleaded in Hollister finally under the $2
mark.
San Benito County residents are getting a break at the gas pumps this week, with prices down 14 cents from last month, and the average cost for unleaded in Hollister finally under the $2 mark.
“Well that makes my day,” Hollister resident Rodney Nasaire said Thursday as he was filling up his tank and saw the price of $1.99 a gallon. “When the prices were really high, it was taking quite a chunk out of my money.”
Nasaire commutes to San Jose five days a week, so any drop in price at the pump is a sign of relief for him. San Benito County commuters who head to the Bay Area should continue to fill up their cars at home. Even though the state wide price has dropped to $2.09, the Bay Area average is still $2.10 a gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. Sean Comey, spokesperson for the association, said the cheaper prices are a break for now, but they may not be long lived.
“This is a welcome relief for consumers, but there are still some troubling market forces at work right now,” he said in a statement. “Extremely high crude oil prices are looming on the horizon. If they stay at or near record high levels, the cost of that commodity could reverse the current downward trend at the pump.”
Even though the price of crude oil has continued to go up, consumers have enjoyed the drop in price because there has been a decrease in profit margins at California refineries, according to the Department of California Energy Commission. Industry analysts at the University of California, Berkeley said the large potential profit of selling gas in California brought in more out-of-state refiners who started supplying gas.
Gas prices
by the numbers
$1.95
Quik Stop
10 San Felipe Rd
$1.95
Quik Stop
1300 San Juan Road
$1.95
B & C One Stop Gas
1615 San Juan Road
$1.96
Home Town Gas
250 San Benito Street
$2.10
Hollister Chevron
1390 Prospect Ave
$2.03
Shell Gas Station
490 Tres Pinos Road
$1.99
Ranch Milk Gas
105 San Felipe Road
$1.99
San Benito Tire
Tres Pinos Road
AVERAGES
Hollister: $1.99
California: $2.09
Bay Area: $2.10
Nationwide: $1.86
