Gas dips below $3 in southwest Mo.

Crude oil is selling for less than $93 a barrel, down $15 in the past two weeks. Gasoline is trading for $2.20 a gallon on New York exchanges, down 40 cents in the past two weeks.

Drivers in some parts of Missouri are enjoying a respite from high prices -- on Friday a gallon of gasoline cost as little as $2.89 in Springfield, while in Kansas City the cost was as low as $2.85. Statewide, the average cost of a gallon was $3.29, according to the price-tracking website gasbuddy.com.

But in Southeast Missouri -- where in past years motorists have been able to fill up for some of the cheapest gasoline in the state -- many stations are selling gas for $3.45 or more, which is the same or higher than the prices being charged before Hurricane Ike disrupted supplies.

The exceptions include Perryville, where prices are about $3.25 per gallon.

Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan, coming back from a conference in Springfield, said he was astonished at the difference between the southeast and southwest areas of the state. Jordan pays close attention to gas prices because his department uses a lot -- he's already burned through the original budget of $80,000 for gasoline, and there are three months left in the year.

"That has been a budget killer this year," he said.

While Jordan said his department gets a break on gas costs -- he works under a contract that saves local taxpayers the 17-cent-per-gallon state fuel tax -- he still wonders why there is such a difference in costs. "It is really hard to stomach," he said.

Much of Southeast Missouri's gasoline comes from a pipeline owned by Texas Eastern Pipeline Products Co. LP, which has a terminal near the SEMO Port Authority. Fuel is pumped from Texas, and wholesalers load their trucks for deliveries to retailers. But the pipeline company does not set prices and cannot charge higher delivery charges when supplies are short, said Rick Rainey, a spokesman at the company's Houston headquarters.

The company operates as a regulated transporter, with prices set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Rainey said.

While some refineries are not fully operational since being shut down in advance of Hurricane Ike, Rainey said his company's pipeline is operating normally and delivering gasoline without interruption.

"We are transporting everything the refiners are giving us," he said. "The supply and demand takes over in most cases. Whatever they are giving us to ship, it is being shipped."

Retail prices include the cost of delivery as well as state and federal taxes, which add 35.4 cents to the price of each gallon. High prices are pushing Missourians to use less -- consumption statewide is down almost 3 percent during the first eight months of the year compared to 2007, according to figures published by the Missouri Department of Revenue.

Two of the distributors who deliver fuel to many of the retailers in this area are Kidd Oil Co. and Rhodes Oil Co., each with ties to area retail outlets but also suppliers to other independent sellers. Adam Kidd of Kidd Oil Co. declined to be interviewed when reached on his cell phone. He said he was away from his desk and would not speak about the prices his company is charging retailers.

"I am just not going to have a conversation on the phone," he said.

Keith Boeller, president of PAJCO Inc., the parent company of Rhodes 101 Stops, David Lemmon, owner of Basic Fuel, and Scott Blank, owner of BiState convenience stores, could not be reached for comment.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126

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