Gas prices from Neah Bay to Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend are tumbling down almost as fast as they shot up two years ago, when they hovered around the $4-a-gallon mark at the height of the surge.
Just Friday, the lowest North Olympic Peninsula prices were found in Sequim, as they have been for some time.
Prices in Sequim have fallen about 10 cents in the past week alone.
There, Safeway and Costco are duking it out at the fuel pumps.
Safeway overnight Thursday dropped its price by 4 cents a gallon to $3.31 for unleaded gas, including the 3-cent-a-gallon discount Safeway offers to its card holders.
That’s well below the state average of $3.46 a gallon but way above the national average price for unleaded at $3.25 on Friday.
Costco opened its pumps early Friday morning, matching Safeway’s price after the unleaded gas pump read $3.35 a gallon the day before.
Asked if Safeway was locked in a price war with Costco in Sequim last week, Seattle Safeway spokeswoman Sarah Osborne said, “We price based on competition, and that means sometimes we lose money, sometimes we make money.”
East on Washington Street, it’s a different story at branded gas stations.
Clallam Co-op’s Shell gas station posted the price of unleaded gas Friday at $3.50 a gallon.
Mike Youngquist, Clallam Co-op’s general manager, said there was a time when prices were decided by what the profit margin would be.
“To be honest with you, you can’t sell any higher than your competition,” he said of today’s gas prices.
“There’s a heck of a price difference between unbanded gas and top tier,” such as Shell or Chevron, he said.
Youngquist, who worked for Safeway for 12 years, said, “They don’t make any money on it. They just do it to bring people into their store.
“That wouldn’t happen to us. The store would just go bankrupt.”
That sentiment was echoed by other gas station owners across the Peninsula, most of whom doubted the region’s prices would fall below $3 a gallon, which has been the case in Arizona, New Mexico and parts of the South and Midwest.
With Washington state residents paying a higher-than-average state tax of 28 cents per gallon, prices falling below the $3 level are unlikely, they said.
At Ray’s Grocery, 7621 state Highway 112 in Sekiu, owner Trina Bartee said her price for unleaded peaked in the summer at $4.26 a gallon.
She said the further west, the more expensive the distribution cost.
“Now, the only reason I carry gas is it brings people in the door,” she said of the small grocery store overlooking Clallam Bay.
Her Shell unleaded gas was listed on the Web at $3.65 a gallon Friday.
As far west as you can go on state Highway 112, Neah Bay’s Makah Mini Mart was selling unleaded gas for $3.61 a gallon, before the tribal discount of 35 cents a gallon.
Haley McCarty, the Makah tribe’s gas station and store manager, said, “We don’t have a large markup because that’s what’s mandated by the tribal council.”
In Forks, Ron’s Food Mart’s owner, Stephanie Browning, said lower gas prices were “great for us.”
Her regular unleaded was selling for $3.57 a gallon Friday.
“In this economy, every penny helps,” she said.
Like Sequim, gas prices in Port Angeles showed signs of competition, ranging in price from $3.38 cents a gallon at Safeway, including the 3-cent discount for cardholders, to $3.60 for branded gas such as Shell, 76 and Chevron.
Steve Chamberlin, who has owned First Race Street Car Wash and 76 gas station since 1981, said he thought he would never see gas fall below $3 in Port Angeles again.
“Around here, that’s a dream,” he said with a snicker.
His price was at $3.52 for unleaded late last week but he said he expected it would fall another 5 cents because the distributor was hauling in a cheaper load.
He remembers when gas topped out at 99.9 cents a gallon in 1974 at the station.
“I said, ‘Oh my God, it will never go over $1,’” he recalled.
It was a similar story in Port Townsend, with unleaded gas prices running from $3.42 a gallon at Safeway to $3.67 at the Sea Breeze Shell station on West Sims Way.
Jason Nadra, Sea Breeze manager, said competition with Safeway was not an issue since Shell sells branded gas of higher quality than that sold at Safeway.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.