Sep 22, 2005 By Angie Santello 5 min read

Although a hike in the price of retail gasoline looms as Hurricane Rita makes her way closer to the southern coast, gas prices continue to hold steady in Fayette County. Spokesperson for AAA East Central Bevi Norris said gas prices depend on Hurricane Rita’s impact on the large refining area located in the Gulf Coast region and in Huston, Texas, a city in the region where the storm’s center is heading.

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said the storm will make landfall late Friday night or very early Saturday morning in the central Texas Gulf Coast – from Corpus Christi to Huston. According to the weather service, the Pittsburgh area will not experience any weather aftereffects as a result of the hurricane.

But gas prices may be a different story.

Norris said if the hurricane hits the Huston area, the possibility definitely exists that local consumers could face heightened gasoline prices similar to the $3.19 per gallon of regular gasoline they paid about a week after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.

The gas station manager at the Exxon along Route 51 said the station’s customers feel like they’re getting “a bargain” compared to the former price of $3.19 per gallon of regular gasoline.

“I don’t know why, but they do,” he said.

He changed the price of diesel fuel to represent a price hike of $.13 around noon, but the manager said he has only heard what everyone else has: that prices may go up.

He said he is helpless to predict a price increase until he receives a call from “the main office.”

“I checked this morning and prices are the same here as they are everywhere,” he said.

But even if prices do increase pass the $3 range once again, one difference exists, said Norris.

“Katrina struck right before Labor Day, at the height of demand,” she said.

Since the summer driving season is over, the nation will not see as much of an increased demand for gasoline as experienced after Hurricane Katrina, she said.

“The season for demand is over,” said Norris, whose agency has tracked gas prices as a public service for consumers since the late 1970s. “So it could not be quite as bad.”

So while people are eyeing the storm and bracing for the possibility of another Hurricane Katrina, the good news for local residents is the price of retail gasoline, which may hold steady at $2.69 per gallon for regular grade until the end of the week if not beyond.

Norris said gasoline is still over a dollar in Jamestown, N.Y., while the average price of gasoline has actually decreased $.21 since last Tuesday. Fayette County is seeing the average price, she said.

Wednesday afternoon, local gas stations held prices for a gallon of regular gasoline steady at $2.69. Managers of local stations said they haven’t received news of a price increase, but have heard the same rumors everybody else has.

Sheetz Inc. Spokesperson Monica Jones said Sheetz, typically the herald of local gasoline prices, does not anticipate having to raise prices any time soon.

Jones said the convenience store has not seen a dramatic increase in customer count or in more people purchasing gasoline, despite the threat of Hurricane Rita and of gas prices hikes.

“This has kind of cropped up in the last two days,” she said.

Sheetz is seeing wholesale prices stay the same, but if an increase in wholesale prices should happen, the corporation, as with other gas stations, would be forced to reflect that price increase at the pumps.

“It depends on a lot of factors,” said Jones, noting the factors include how quickly the current supply is depleting, the supply and demand of gasoline and competition in other areas.

“If market value holds steady, we are able to hold steady,” she said.

Jones noted supply has become less limited than during the time following Hurricane Katrina, when the natural disaster drove up gasoline price and demand. She noted some spotty supply issues still exist.

At other area gas stations, station managers don’t know if and when prices are going to increase, but most said more people are filling up at their stations.

Exxon and Marathon stations are cheaper than other stations for highest-grade gasoline, which many people are buying less of.

The manager of the BP Station along Morgantown Road said people are sticking with regular gasoline since they can’t afford the more expensive product.

She also noted the major use of credit cards since prices have begun fluctuating.

The cashier at Kwik Fill along Route 40 in Menallen Township said “more people than yesterday” purchased gasoline from the station.

Both the Kwik Fill cashier and the station supervisor said they heard that the price of gasoline could increase, while the supervisor said he hasn’t received news of any increase.

Karen Strauch, 59, of Rowes Run said she had just filled the tank of her van Sunday, but was required to pump $20 more into it yesterday. She shells out $60 to fill her tank.

She said she remembers when gasoline was $.19.

Realizing she may never see those days again and in light of today’s high prices, Strauch has decided that it would be a good idea to combine errands during trips in town.

She takes care of elderly patients at her in-home business and said she tells her patients that if they need something, they know to tell her before she embarks on her planned trip into town.

“We’re trying to make every trip count,” she said.

For Strauch, it is also frequent doctor visits that quickly lower her fuel gauge and equal dollars spent at the pump. Strauch travels into Fairchance and Centerville for doctor appointments and has been to the doctor’s office three times since Friday.

Many consumers have the attitude of Strauch, who sees no choice in the matter.

“You gotta pay what you gotta pay,” she said. “If it’s $3, you gotta pay $3. I hope it doesn’t go any higher. We’re struggling now.”