Gas prices in Jupiter out of this world? It's all relative. Look at Boca | Frank Cerabino

Frank Cerabino, Palm Beach Post
·4 min read

Jupiter’s new mayor Jim Kuretski knows how to get people riled up. Complain about gasoline prices.

Kuretski, a 21-year veteran on Jupiter’s Town Council, was elected mayor in March, and he wasted no time in sending off a letter to Circle K’s Florida headquarters to complain about the gas prices at the company’s new station on Indiantown Road.

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Gasoline prices are nearing all time highs as the price for regular unleaded have risen following increases in crude and light crude sales. Signage from a Sunoco gas station and convenience store Monday in Lake Worth Beach,
Gasoline prices are nearing all time highs as the price for regular unleaded have risen following increases in crude and light crude sales. Signage from a Sunoco gas station and convenience store Monday in Lake Worth Beach,

Kuretski wrote that it was the town’s understanding that the new station would have lower prices on its gasoline, making it more in line with Speedway and Wawa stations in the area. But the price, he said, was basically the same as surrounding stations in Jupiter.

And this led to him complaining about why living in Jupiter meant that the locals should be expected to pay a higher price for gas than in neighboring municipalities.

“Lower gasoline pricing is commonplace north and south of Jupiter,” he wrote. “Our residents can save 20+ cents per gallon by traveling a little south or north to purchase their gasoline.”

Gas strategy: charging by ability to pay

Cry me a river of unleaded, Mayor Jim. I’ve lived in Boca Raton for the past four decades – where the price of gasoline is routinely the highest in the state.

Some of that is due to local taxes, but there’s an element of companies charging what they think the market will bear. And so if you send out vibes about what a posh community you live in, eventually the gas companies will start believing your hype and charge you more for gas.

Jim Kuretski
Jim Kuretski

Maybe Jupiter should start taking out self-deprecating public service announcements that say, “Jupiter: It’s not as nice as you think” or “Jupiter: Cool lighthouse, but you wouldn't want to live there.”

Going on the Gas Buddy site, an online bulletin board of gas prices in the area, I found that the Circle K gas station on Indiantown Road that Kurestki is complaining about has the second-cheapest price for unleaded regular gas in town, at $4.39 per gallon.

In Boca Raton, the cheapest gas in the city is 10 cents per gallon more than that Jupiter Circle-K.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t enjoy paying higher prices for gasoline.

But I realize that when I go out of my way to get gas at the West Palm Beach Wawa station near the airport at $4.29 per gallon, whatever savings is realized on the slightly cheaper gas is more than eaten away by the nearly $6 I spend on the impulsive purchase of a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich.

Other expensive liquids at gas station

Actually, the water sold at gas stations is more expensive than the gasoline.

A 20-ounce bottle of Desani water costs $2.29 at a Circle K convenience store. That works out to be $14.65 per gallon for water. Suddenly, $4.50 gas seems relatively cheap.

I don’t want to give them any ideas, but gas stations could condition the public to accept higher gas prices by using their signs to also advertise the per-gallon costs of other liquids sold in their convenience stores.

Sometimes, I get a 20-ounce Diet Coke at a gas station when I’m getting gas. At the going price of $2.59 per bottle, that works out $16.57 per gallon for the soda.

Imagine if a gas station sign read:

Unleaded: $4.39

Water: $14.65

Coca-Cola: $16.57

And in terms of prices around the world, gasoline prices in the United States are still relatively cheaper.

'High price' of gas worse elsewhere

The prices posted this month by GlobalPetrolPrices.com show that the average price of gasoline around the world now is $5.04 per gallon in U.S. dollars, with dramatically higher prices common in Western Europe.

In Italy the dollar-per-gallon price is more than $7. In Germany, it’s $7.97 per gallon. In the Netherlands, it’s $8.33 per gallon. In Norway, it’s $9.13 per gallon.

“As a general rule, richer countries have higher prices while poorer countries and the countries that produce and export oil have significantly lower prices,” the site explains.

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“One notable exception is the U.S., which is an economically advanced country but has low gas prices …

“All countries have access to the same petroleum prices of international markets but then decide to impose different taxes.”

The taxes on gas in Florida pay for road improvements, or whatever you call the constant state of cone deployment that turn roadways into obstacle courses.

Frank Cerabino is a columnist at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at fcerabino@gannett.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jupiter mayor's gripe about gas prices a marker of town's affluence