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 Whitman 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.
If you see a lower/higher price in town that we didn't list, use our comments feature below to correct us. If there is more than one Shell in your town, it's on you to drive enough to find the cheap one.
Mobil has the worst price in 10 of 20 towns that had both a high and low price reported. They also had the worst price on the South Shore, a Gimme The Loot price of $2.69 at the Norwell Mobil.
National Average Gas Price: $2.228
Massachusetts Average Gas Price; $2.259
Price per barrel, crude oil: $53.57
Best Price in this article: $2.05, Prime Energy and Diamond Fuel in Whitman
Worst Price: $2.69, Mobil in Norwell.
GAS PRICES BY TOWN
Plymouth
Best: $2.11, BJs
Worst: $2.49, Gulf
Carver
Best: $2.13, at both Eagle Gas and Geko
Worst: $2.15, Mobil
Middleboro
Best: $2.06, Petro Max
Worst: $2.23, Mobil
Lakeville
Best: $2.13, Shell
Worst: $2.15, Mobil
Bridgewater (East, West and Everything Else)
Best: $2.10, Tri Town
Worst: $2.46, Mobil
Halifax
Best: $2.16 Cumby's
Worst: $2.27, Mobil
Plympton
Best: $2.15, Plympton Gas and Convenience
Kingston
Best: $2.15, Super Petroleum
Worst: $2.25, Gulf
Duxbury
Best: $2.29, Bennet's
Worst: $2.35, Gulf
Marshfield
Best: $2.14, Public Petroleum
Worst: $2.27, Shell
Scituate
No Prices Reported
Pembroke
Best: $2.18, Cumby's
Worst: $2.39, Mobil(s)
Hanson
Best: $2.13, at both Cumby's and Speedway
Worst: $2.35. Main Street Auto
Brockton
Best: $2.06, Montello's Express gas
Worst: $2.29, Sunny's Auto Care
Whitman
Best: $2.05, at both Prime Energy and Diamond Fuel
Worst: $2.09, at both Whitman Gas and Stop & Shop
Abington
Best: $2.07 Route 18 Superstore
Worst: $2.19, Abington Gas and Auto Repair
Rockland
Best: $2.15, at both Mutual and Steve's Auto Service
Worst: $2.25, BP
Hanover
Best: $2.13, Super Petroleum
Worst: $2.29, Sunoco
Norwell
Best: $2.47, 7-11
Worst: $2.69, Mobil
Cohasset
Best: $2.29, Stop & Shop
Worst: $2.31, Mobil
Hingham
Best: $2.17, Mobil
Worst: $2.39, Gulf
Hull
No prices reported
Weymouth
Best: $2.17, at both the Towne Pump (hey nowwwww) and Super Petroleum
Worst: $2.49, Mobil
Quincy
Best: $2.15, Super Petroleum
Worst: $2.47, Mobil
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| Be sure to check our Cape Cod and South Coast versions of this very same article. |
