A currently raging price was across all of the gas stations located in one small town in Minnesota has left one clear winner, the drivers.
A group of five different gas stations all across the town of Hastings, Minnesota, which is located about 30 miles to the southeast of the Twin Cities, have taken part in an extreme battle of who can drop their prices for gasoline the lowest and secure the title of lowest prices in town, as reported by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The stations were all sporting a price of roughly $3.39 per gallon, which is well below the average even locally. This particular price war has taken place much to the delight of the local drivers who have made the miles-long trip to the gas stations in order to take advantage of the war.
“This has gone on for the last few weeks,” stated Patrick De Haan, the chief petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, to those at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “These stations have aggressively been bringing prices down. It’s certainly been an interesting time watching them.”
As reported by the Star-Tribune, the normal price for a gallon of gasoline across Minneapolis currently sits at roughly $3.95 per gallon. While the county average price for Dakota County, for which Hastings is the county seat, currently sits at about $3.89 a gallon on average, as reported by AAA. The group of stations, five in total that include two Holidays, one Kwik Trip, one Speedway, and one M&H, are all charging on average 50 cents less for a gallon of gas than the local average at just $3.39.
De Haan stated to the Star-Tribune that Hastings is the only place where a price war like this is taking place in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, but many other stations in exurban areas have chosen to sell well below the area average: a pair of stations in the town of Rockford, which sits roughly 25 miles west of Minneapolis, is 502630charging only $3.49 a gallon; out in Buffalo, about 10 miles from Rockford, gas is even lower than we areas seeing as a result of the Hastings price war, with some stations dropping as low as $3.31.
De Haan also stated that the stations, which already sport very tight margins, most likely can’t afford to be slashing prices so much, and are not making much money at all as it is. “Probably not a whole lot beyond a couple shiny pennies or so,” stated De Hann about the profits from the different stations. The situation is not likely to change, he went on; lowering prices is now required in order to keep bringing in custoemrs, and things will only change if and when one of these stations choices to raise prices and then others follow the trend.
Despite the smaller profits for the station, various visitors and local drivers alike are taking advantage of the prices.
“Thank you. That’s all I can say is, thank you,” Carol Dettinger, who made an almost 25-mile trip up from Stillwater to full up, stated the Star-Tribune. “I wish other people would have this gas war.”
“We’re from Wisconsin and it’s always cheaper right in here,” expressed Dave Komay, a landscaper.
“It’s really busy around here, I’ll tell you that,” Hastings resident Mindy Bekker claimed of the area Kwik Trip.
