[StBernard] St. Bernard station's gas prices dropping

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard station's gas prices dropping
by Mark Waller, The Times-Picayune 
Wednesday October 08, 2008, 9:51 PM
The $146.19 that Dexter Strange paid Wednesday to fill up his pickup and the
extra fuel tanks for his boat seemed like a bargain after months of
gasoline-price anxiety.

The Meraux station where Strange pulled up, hauling a trailer full of
freshly caught crabs, was charging $2.85 a gallon for regular unleaded, down
from a peak above $4 in the summer, when the commercial fisher from
Yscloskey paid more than $200 a day to fuel his truck and boat.

As the sweeping, credit-driven economic distress commands more attention
worldwide, gas prices are quietly slipping along with demand, providing a
touch of relief for motorists.

"That's sixty to seventy dollars more you get to make" every day, Strange
said about the money he is saving at the pump. "It helps, I'll tell you."

The average gas price in the New Orleans area Wednesday was $3.49 a gallon
and falling, according to the AAA Louisiana. On July 17, it hit $4.01.

Harry Fisher, who owns the Meraux Food Store -- Pitlane on Judge Perez Drive
where Strange fueled up, said people who expected to spend $20 or $40 in
cash have suddenly started requiring change.

"Everybody thinks we're joking" when they see $2.85 on the sign, Fisher
said. He has been paying wholesale prices of $2.50 to $2.60 this week.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in New Orleans was
$2.67 a year ago, leading Strange to point out that prices still aren't what
they used to be, although Fisher said "it seems like forever" since they've
been this low.

Don Redman, a spokesman for AAA, said prices are likely to keep falling. He
expects them to dip under $3 throughout the New Orleans area by
Thanksgiving.

"Any time an economy grows, so does its demand for energy, and the opposite
is true as well, " he said.

Baton Rouge economist Loren Scott said the rising prices pushed people to
cut back on driving, suppressing demand and prices. Now the slouching
economy is holding down travel budgets.

On top of that, Scott said, the record-breaking summer prices were part of
an unsustainable, speculation-fueled bubble. They had to fall.

"It's going to go lower, " he said. "People have even more happy news to
look forward to at the pump."

The Palms Casino and Truck Stop on St. Bernard Highway in Arabi was charging
$2.89 on Wednesday for customers who paid with cash.

"It just makes them happy that it's below $3, " said manager Keith Esteen,
who declined to divulge his wholesale price. Esteen said business has been
brisk since he lowered the price Tuesday.

Fisher also said his price cut is luring more customers. He said his
strategy has long been to raise the volume of business by keeping gas prices
as low as possible.

Joe Castro of Chalmette spent $50 to fill his sport utility vehicle at the
Meraux Food Store, a station he visited specifically because a friend told
him about the price of gas. A few months ago, a tank cost him more than $85.

Castro, who remodels kitchens and bathrooms, said he doesn't understand how
gas gets cheaper when the broader economy is riddled with woes, but he
wasn't complaining at the pump Wednesday.

Strange, however, said he plans to be cautious with his newfound fuel
savings.

"I'm holding on to the money for when it goes back up, " he said.

. . . . . . .

Mark Waller can be reached at mwaller at timespicayune.com or 504.883.7056.