Thiele Questions South Fork Gas Prices

State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., I-Sag Harbor, is accusing gasoline wholesalers of price gouging on the South Fork, exploiting travelers over Memorial Day weekend.

Thiele claims that while the price of crude oil has declined and the average price per gallon of gasoline fell elsewhere on Long Island, that is not the case in the Hamptons. He said it is a violation of the state’s zone pricing law, which prohibits arbitrarily establishing prices based on the location of service stations. He is seeking the state attorney general’s intervention and stricter zoning pricing laws.

Michael Watt, the executive director of the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association, said Tuesday that individual gas stations are in no position to be gouging customers.

“Our guys compete with the guy across the street, and when the guy across the street is looking to put you out of business, the last thing we’re going to start doing is price gouging,” Watt said.

Citing AAA, Thiele said in a statement Tuesday that the average price per gallon of regular gasoline in New York was $4.22 a month ago and is now $4.08. But while the price has dipped below $4 on the North Fork and elsewhere on Long Island, the price on the South Fork has remained above $4.25 for a month.

"It is obvious that when it came to gasoline prices in one of the most popular vacation communities in America, 'Big Oil' has chosen to not only ignore the zone pricing law but also repeal the law of supply and demand,” Thiele was quoted as saying in a statement from his office. “It is clear that prices were kept artificially high to exploit the big holiday weekend.”

Also Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer called for an “immediate investigation into price fixing by U.S. oil refiners.” He is seeking the Federal Trade Commission’s intervention.

“At a time when major refiners and oil companies are making record profits and New York families continue to struggle with gasoline at record prices, the idea that refiners may be manipulating the market to keep prices artificially high is offensive,” Schumer stated. “When the price of oil goes up, gas shoots up like a rocket — but when it goes down, the price of gas seems to fall like a feather. That’s just not right.”

Watt said that retailers lose flexibility over prices when the cost goes up at the wholesale and distributor level. When the wholesale price shoots up 10 cents, a retailer can only go up 5 cents. “He has to answer to the public,” Watt explained.

When the wholesale price later dips, the retail price won’t dip as fast, he said. “Sometimes the retailer is just trying to recoup what they lost when the price went up.”