Gasoline prices are back to normal

By "normal," we're not talking about $2.399 a gallon for self-serve regular unleaded. We're talking about a geographic price spread that could save you several dollars when you fill your tank.

Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I filled my tank. But anyway...

Every so often I check the different prices regionally. If everything is about the same, that means we have just gone through a price surge. Marathon and its retail arm Speedway are the dominant suppliers in this region, so I get on speedway.com to see what the difference is between Huntington and Catlettsburg. If there is a difference, that means Marathon and Speedway are getting settled in with their new price structure and things should be stable for a while.

Here is what I found this morning when checking price ranges at Speedway stations over a wide region. Remember that prices can vary widely by neighborhood in the same city:

Huntington: $2.939 to $2.999
Ceredo: $2.839
Catlettsburg, Ky.: $2.839
Ironton: $2.959
Gallipolis, Ohio: $2.829 to $2.899
Chillicothe, Ohio: $2.799 to $2.809
Columbus: $2.659 to $2.899
Lexington, Ky.: $2.689 to $2.759
Louisville: $2.749 to $2.899
Bowling Green, Ky.: $2.769 to $2.779

The odd thing about these prices is that Bowling Green, Ky., and Louisville are higher than I expected. Louisville isn't all that surprising, though, considering it's Derby week.

The best explanation I ever heard for the level of gasoline prices came from someone within an oil company. That person told me the retailers will charge what the market will bear.

I don't like paying $3 a gallon for gasoline instead of $2.25 or $1.50, but I'm not ready to call for something as foolish as a windfall profits tax.

Whenever people can drive to Ceredo or Catlettsburg and pay 10 to 15 cents less on the gallon than they do in Huntington, things must be settling down for a while.