Ouch!
Island's premium gas jumps $5 mark
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
Yesterday morning, Nantucket's gas prices changed again, rising to $4.96 per gallon of regular at Hatch's and up by 40 cents to $4.99 at the airport station and at Mid-Island Gas. All three pumps crossed the $5 mark for premium with the airport, the highest at $5.16 a gallon. Only On-Island Gas remained the same at $4.53 for regular and $4.67 for premium; however those prices were expected to jump today.

In comparison, on May 2 the most expensive regular was $4.59, a difference of 75 cents since mid-December when it cost $3.84 a gallon. AAA, which updates gas prices daily in a survey of about 100,000 stations, reported yesterday that the national average for regular stood at $3.97 and premium at $4.37. The average in California for regular was $4.27 and in Massachusetts the average price was $3.98.

Jim's Package Store and gas station in Oak Bluffs on the Vineyard was charging $4.64 for regular yesterday. At the pumps on Block Island, R.I., Cliff McGinnes, manager at M & C Associates, reported $4.69 for regular and speculated that by July 4, the cost would reach $5 a gallon.

"We get a gas delivery once a week and it keeps going up. There's no relief in sight," he said.

Charlie Meyer, owner of Island Petroleum Service in Friday Harbor, Wash., said his regular was selling for $4.60 yesterday, with his competitor asking $4.62.

"We probably should be at $4.62 but we're feeling charitable," said Meyer.

He, too, anticipates the prices will continue to rise and noted gas prices will have an impact on the volume stations sell as irate consumers turn to bikes, buses and commuter trains for transportation. Part of the problem

is that gas stations have to meet expenses for employees and pay a transfer fee of three to five percent

for every dollar charged to a credit card. Even if wholesale prices stabilize, retailers must increase their profit margins or cut costs some way, if their sales volumes

drop, he explained. I