Cheap gas has drivers revved

By Don Shilling

A station owner said he’s cutting his prices even further.

YOUNGSTOWN — Drivers were lining up Thursday for some of the cheapest gas in the area.

“I only stopped because I saw gas was only $3.69,” said Doris Irons, 60, of Youngstown, as other drivers waited for her to finish pumping at Ultimate Food Mart on Belmont Avenue. “You can’t beat that price.”

But customers haven’t seen anything yet, said Mike Singh, owner of the station near St. Elizabeth Health Center.

He said he has another price cut coming today and predicted his prices eventually will drop into the $3.50s. His explanation was simple: “We buy cheaper so we can sell it cheaper.”

Many other Mahoning Valley stations were selling gas for between $3.79 and $3.89 a gallon Thursday.

AAA reported that the area’s average price Monday was $3.89, although it uses credit card transactions from the previous day. The average price reached a high of $4.05 on July 15.

Larry Valtes, 64, of Austintown, was waiting in his car at the Belmont Avenue station. He had his engine shut off as the driver in front of him finished pumping.

“You know it’s cheap when a motorcycle pulls up to get three gallons,” he said.

Valtes said he came through Youngstown just to get gas at the station because he heard of the low prices. He was on his way to Niles.

Mike Cozzi, 19, of Warren, was in the area when he saw the price and stopped even though he had only $1.50 to spend on gas.

“It seems like the best price in the area. Very cheap,” he said after pumping less than half a gallon.

George Midlick, 58, of Lake Milton, was at a doctor’s office on Belmont when he saw the price. He stopped for three gallons.

“I wish I would have had my gas can because I would have filled that, too,” he said.

Lou Pastore, 60, of Boardman, said he was happy to see prices coming down but noted that gas costs still are a strain on people.

“They are nowhere near were they need to be,” he said.

It’s time for this country to find a way to relieve its dependence on foreign oil, he said.

Gas prices have been dropping as crude oil prices have declined. Oil prices are down about 15 percent from record highs reached earlier this month.

Analysts have said oil prices have fallen as demand has decreased and traders have pulled back their investments.

shilling@vindy.com