There is one gas station in my area that is generally 4-10 cents cheaper per liter than anywhere else within fifty kilometers. What could explain the disparity?
The gas station is rural, and directly equidistant from four major cities.
Overhead is lower including the cost of the land and property taxes is the most likely. explanation. Their labor costs might be lower as well though with self service almost everywhere now this might not be so big a factor. Of course given the metric measures in your question, you’re probably not from the US so things may vary.
Is it an independent station? Prices at indies are usually a bit lower than franchises.
It’s a Pioneer station. There are actually two within a kilometer, one on either side of the highway, and they always have the same price.
Could there be different additives they put in, or could there really be that much of a disparity in property taxes (the whole area is part of the Giant Amalgamated City Of Hamilton, Ontario and I’m unfamiliar with their tax laws).
Pioneer on Highway 6, near Carlysle? They really are the best price in the area, aren’t they? When I used to commute to Guelph from Hamilton, that’s where I always gassed up. I also liked “the green guy” - I think it’s a Gas Rite, run by the smilingest Chinese guy on earth! I have no idea why their prices were always better, though as a whole, I found Pioneer to be less expensive than other chains, even within Hamilton or Guelph. Always a coupe of cents less, at least.
Yep, that’s the one.
I think OldGuy’s answer is right.
It’s not just property taxes, it’s land prices that matter. The revenue has to cover the rent on the land, and that would be a lot less out in the sticks.
If you’re thinking about gas prices from place to place, you need to factor in land prices, transport costs (the cost of getting the petrol there) and scale economies.
In Australia, petrol prices tend to be much higher in the country except when they’re really close to the refinery. This is because the lower land costs are outweighed by the higher transport costs and lower volumes. In this case I suspect that the passing traffic means high volumes (and therefore lots of units to spread the low rent costs amongst). I wouldn’t be surprised if there was one big distributor for all the urban centres and it turned out to be quite close to this station.