Pumps are baulking at the price of gas too

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, May 27th, 2008 - 1 comment
Categories: articles, International - Tags: ,

As the price of our petrol continues to climb, having recently crossed the $2 a litre barrier, spare a thought for some US petrol retailers who have a whole other set of problems to contend with.

As the Washington Times reports:

Like a lot of small-scale entrepreneurs, Cathy Osborne worries that she’ll go out of business if fuel prices rise above $4 a gallon. Not because she won’t be able to buy gas at that price, but because she won’t be able to sell it.

The old mechanical gas pumps with scrolling dials at her country store in Fauquier County lack the gears to go beyond $3.99 a gallon. State inspectors shut down her diesel pump several months ago when the fuel topped the $4 mark, so now all that’s left are two pumps dispensing 87-octane gasoline, set at $3.75 — and climbing.

[UPDATE: doesn’t look like the future is much brighter for them either, according to the Wall Street Journal who predict that oil may hit $200 a barrel within the next two years, roughly doubling pump prices.]

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