Thursday, September 13, 2001

Gas prices spike, then sharply drop after attack
By John-Mark Day
Staff Reporter

Heather Lippincott said it was not long after Tuesday’s attacks that she started to hear rumors about the effect on her wallet.

Lippincott, a senior marketing major, said she went to the gas station Tuesday night after hearing from her roommate’s mother that prices were on the rise.

“(She) said that in Oklahoma prices were going up to $5 a gallon,” Lippincott said.

Speculation that Tuesday’s attacks are linked to the Middle East have fueled concerns that supplies of gasoline will be cut off, causing prices to rise.

Nationwide, gas prices spiked briefly Tuesday but began to fall again on Wednesday.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the R and L Texaco in Oklahoma City had raised prices briefly to $5 a gallon Tuesday but began offering refunds soon after. Authorities in Oklahoma were investigating instances of price-gouging, which is illegal, the report cited.

Adam Schoeneman/SKIFF STAFF Despite recent fears, gas prices across the Metroplex are not rising.

Lippincott said she waited at the Racetrac gas station 30 minutes before she could fill up. She was finally able to get to a pump, only to have it run out of gas.

“It was crazy,” she said. “People were all over the place.”

“I only got up to $5.85 and it stopped. (The worker) said the pump was out of gas,” she said. “People were yelling, demanding their money back.”

TCU economics professor Stephen Quinn said there is no reason for gas stations to raise prices.

“Not much will change unless something happens to disrupt the oil supply,” Quinn said. “There’s no real basis for that.”

If there would be any long-term change in the cost of gas, it would not happen so soon after the attack, Quinn said.

“It’s not going to happen within a week or two,” he said.

Wednesday afternoon, the Texaco at 3070 S. University advertised unleaded gasoline at $1.42 a gallon. The Citgo at 2945 West Berry advertised unleaded gasoline at $1.38 a gallon. Late last week, the average price nationwide was $1.56 per gallon of gas, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations.

Quinn said the rumors about price increases would not last long.

“People respond to the unknown in a very fearful, panicky way,” he said. “But it’s not like people are stocking up for next year. By this weekend, things will be back to normal.”

Quinn said the most likely cause for an increase in prices is consumers who panic and rush to the gas stations.

“Unless you think something else is going to happen in the next couple of weeks, it makes no sense,” he said. “But people are going to do it because everyone else is doing it.”

Quinn said in the long run, consumers, and gas prices, would eventually settle down.
“Maybe (people) just need to be told, ‘You’ll have gas,’” he said.

John-Mark Day
j.m.day2@student.tcu.edu