[javadog]

There are generally a couple of reasons that fuels vary from state to state. There are differences that have to do with the EPA or other idiot government agencies, as they try to tell the fuel companies what to put in gasoline to minimize pollution. Often, they get it wrong, after studying the effects of their meddling for a while. Some areas have pollution problems that are seasonal and so the gas changes at certain times of the year. In Tulsa, we have ozone problems in the summer time and these episodes threaten to get us on the EPA's "dirty air" list, which is not a good thing.

There are political factors at work too, as some states think adding alcohol to gasoline is a good idea. It benefits the farmers, therefore the rest of us must suffer. This makes sense to some jackass, somewhere. Obviously, not a car guy.

Then you have the perceived market demands. The last time gas got expensive, the marketing weenies decided that, in Tulsa, 93 octane was way too expensive for us and 91 was all we needed. Note that this decision was made ahead of the actual buying trend. Once one player gave up on 93, the rest followed and the wholesale demand for the product fell and now it is unavailable to us. It's a shame, as we have several refineries here and pipelines out the wazoo. I tried to talk the biggest vendor into reconsidering this assinine move but I was unsuccessful.

Lastly, there are different prices based upon location. Part of this has to do with competition, or taxes, but another part has to do with the fact that in the more affluent areas of town, they tend to stick it to you at the pump. Hey, they get away with it.

At least we have (relatively) cheap gas. 91 octane varies from $2.59 to $2.85 today, depending upon where you go to get it.

JR