Amador County Gas Prices 10/21

First, here are the numbers as of 10/18/2007...

Safeway (Martell) - $3.05
Mirastar WalMart (Martell) - $3.05
Shell (Martell) - $3.25
Chevron (Martell) - $3.29
Folsom Average - $3.11

And the chart...


So, here are the trends since the last gas price posting at the end of July. Prices in both Amador County and Folsom has been in relative lockstep, with prices dipping to their lowest levels around 8/27, then spiking to the highest levels since about mid-June. Most of this is already known considering most of you fill-up gas on a weekly basis.

Here are some items of note. Safeway has gone on the record saying they would always be a penny below the competition, meaning Mirastar/Safeway. This statement has generally held true to form since Safewway opening in late 2006. An anomaly occurred on approximately 9/15 when Mirastar stayed at $2.67 and Safeway jumped to $2.89. This "inversion" continued until 9/19, at which point the two retailers have mirrored each other's price moves.

Another interesting note is that around 8/6, all four of the Martell gas stations were within 10 cents of each other, then widening to 30 cents by 9/12, then pricing within a 20-25 cent range from then to the present.

So what does this all mean? It continues to appear that both Shell and Chevron have completely abandoned the notion of pricing their gas close to Mirastar and Safeway. While Shell/Chevron price within 15-25 cents of the Folsom average which is slightly below the quoted 10% more than Amador County residents have historically paid for gas compared to Sacramento folks, Safeway/Mirastar continue to price below the Sacramento prices.

Also to note, while Mirastar prices are comparable to Safeway's, Mirastar is consistently empty while the Safeway station is jammed packed. As they say in real estate, it's location, location, location.