Under the new policy, the sell prices for gasoline and diesel fuel are established by grade, based on the Department of Energy averages from the previous month, plus each region s incremental dispensing costs. The purpose of the new policy is to have a consistent pricing policy and a policy that minimizes big price fluctuations from year to year.
Gasoline is priced in the world market daily.
As such, having a year-long price is antiquated and simply not realistic. This is the reason for the big fluctuations seen in the past, i.e. 42 cents last year. The new policy will minimize that effect. We feel over time, this policy will benefit our customers by allowing us to provide more consistent pricing and cost reductions when possible much quicker than the old policy. The price and frequency of change varied between the regions, usually depending on local situations.