The life experiences of staff motivate much of what turns up in this column. That is the case today, as the void left by the end of Football Season has fully asserted itself and it is not unusual for your author to take to the streets.
That costs money, because to get gasoline you must have dead organisms (mostly plant life, but yes, dinosaurs too) get buried under layers of stone and dirt, have it heated and pressurized by the functions of the Earth, wait 10 million years, have a bunch of PLO looking dudes move in over it, have someone figure out that you can burn this stuff in a manner that heats homes and powers machinery, subjugate the PLO guys, extract, refine, ship and distribute it.
It takes a lot of time and money to do all of that, so don't be too unhappy if gas costs $2 and change a gallon. It beats walking to Boston. That said, a reasonable person doesn't want to pay more than necessary to drive the beater around.
We're here to help you with that. We check with the Massachusetts Gas Prices website, set the search engine there for "last 36 hours," and tell you the best and worst listed prices in town. After that, it's on you to decide if it is worth driving to Seekonk from where you live to save 25 cents a gallon.
A few notes on our methodology:
Gas prices can change at the drop of a hat. I pumped gas for a few years (I was never happier at a job, to be honest), and we usually changed over on Friday, before the weekend commute. There was a great deal of gouge-the-tourist behind this, but it is also when most people are getting their paychecks and filling their tanks.
We'd write this column on Friday night, but these gas price websites are user-driven, and it takes a while for the info to trickle in. Sunday is a good driving day (see intro), and with no tourists at this time of year, many/most stations don't lower the prices on Monday to favor the locals.
Note that, in this political climate, gas prices could suddenly spike. An oil company executive is our Secretary of State, and a simple "Those damned Iranians need to die 100,000 at a time. Pathetic!" social media message from the wrong orange-tinted president could double gas prices overnight.
We go to "prices reported in last 48 hours" if we need data, we'll try to remember to tell you when we do.
If you see a lower/higher price in town that we didn't list, use our comments feature below to correct us. That's why we list towns when we have no prices for them, in hopes that you- yes, YOU- intervene.
If there is more than one Shell in your town, it's on you to drive enough to find the cheap one.
National Average Gas Price: $2.228
Massachusetts Average Gas Price; $2.259
Price per barrel, crude oil: $53.57
GAS PRICES BY TOWN
Wareham
$2.23, Mobil
Marion
No Prices reported
Rochester
No prices reported
Mattaspoisett
$2.29, Mobil
Acushnet
No prices reported
Fairhaven
Best: $2.17, Valero
Worst: $2.26. 7-11
New Bedford
Best: $2.09, Stop & Save
Worst: $2.39, One Stop Gas
Dartmouth
Best: $2.09, BJ's
Worst: $2.39, Shell
Westport
Best: $2.14, Supreme Gas
Worst: $2.23, Mobil
Freetown
No Prices Reported
Fall River
Best: $2.07, Supreme Gas
Worst: $2.47, JC Gas
Somerset
Best: $2.19, Stop & Shop
Worst: $2.24, Wilbur Gas
Swansea
Best: $2.17, Mobil
Worst: $2.19, Sunoco
Seekonk:
Best: $2.03, Stop & Shop, BJ's, Crossroads Convenience (top 20 range for prices in Massachusetts)
Worst: $2.29, Shell
Rehoboth
Best: $2.09, Exxon
Worst: $2.13, Cumby's
Dighton
No prices listed
Berkley
No prices listed
Attleboro
Best: $2.09, NJM
Worst: $2.15, Cumby's
Taunton
Best: $2.09, Geko (but while you pump the gas, a tiny lizard nags you about your car insurance)
Worst: $2.39, Mobil
Norton
Best: $2.13, Speedway
Worst: $2.20. Mas Gas
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| We'll have pages for Cape Cod and the South Shore up soon enough, perhaps even by the time you read this... |
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