Washington State hit another record high average price per gallon of gas on Friday, reaching $5.19 per gallon, according to AAA.
But there are headlines – not quite correct – that say an Auburn gas station is preparing their digital displays at the pump for gas prices to hit $10 a gallon.
KIRO7′s Deedee Sun looked into the facts behind the headlines.
There is something unusual about the 76 gas station that’s family-owned by Small and Sons – it sells specialty racing fuel that’s 100 octane. Operations manager Jeff Small says rising fuel prices mean they did have to adjust the pump display when prices for the specialty gas topped $10 per gallon. However, he says national headlines picked up on a story that misrepresented the situation – and it went viral.
“They completely spun it from what our conversation was,” Small said.
Small said since then, he’s been getting dozens of calls from around the country this week.
“It was on Fox news, I guess, and that’s when everything really started rolling in,” Small said. “It was kind of frustrating after that point, getting phone calls — not knowing with today’s climate and social media, what would happen to our little station, you know?”
KIRO7 spoke with drivers who were filling up on the racing fuel Friday.
“This is like for off-road use, not for normal everyday driving,” said Tristan Besabe, who builds specialty engines. He was getting gas for a souped-up Nissan with a completely rebuilt engine. The racing fuel was selling for $10.98.
But the gas station’s regular unleaded gas is right on par with the Washington State average — $5.19 a gallon. On Friday, the locally-owned 76′s prices were actually about 40 cents cheaper than a few of gas stations down the street, and lower than the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett average of $5.32.
Another piece of misinformation circulating? Several media reports say Washington State is running out of gas. There is a photo circulating from a Pasco gas station in Eastern Washington that has a “out of fuel” sign. KIRO7 called the station, which said it’s just because of a missed delivery.
KIRO7 also reached out to AAA Washington to check on fuel supplies for the state.
“We are not facing any kind of shortage. We have a good supply,” said Kelly Just, with AAA Washington. She said while the war in Ukraine is driving up prices, it’s not causing supply to dwindle – in Washington or nationwide.
“We’re not in a position to see shortages by any means,” Just said.
AAA says even with these record-high gas prices, people are still hitting the road this Memorial Day weekend. People taking a road trip for the holiday in Washington State is up 9% compared to last year.
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