The predators are on the prowl, says Jim Leasure, who bought the BP station at the corner of Cedar and Columbia, in Mason, from his parents in 1976, and is still there every day.
In an email to me, Leasure wrote, in part:
“If you have wondered why some gas companies can sell their gas 30, 40 cents or more less than another’s, well so do I, and I have been in the retail gas business for most of my life, and I am now 60 years old.
“I started hanging out at the BP station … in Mason when I was about 13 years old. I ultimately purchased the station from my parents in 1976 and rebuilt it in 1989 …
“There are times when stations will sell their product at, or even below, their cost when the market is under pressure, but I have never experienced anything like this before. What we are witnessing now is unprecedented and may be a case of big oil companies putting the smaller independent operators out of business in certain geographic areas, which would of course allow them claim to a bigger share of the market, with less competition.
“Predatory pricing isn’t new. In fact, according to the Petroleum Marketers Association of America there are 24 states that have laws written to prohibit below cost retailing. Michigan is not one of them. Many of our customers (the few that we still have) are now asking me how long the competition can continue to sell gas that much lower than us and of course I can’t answer that question. I assure them that they have very deep pockets and could possibly go on for a long time. In fact this has been going on for weeks already.
“I assure you that I realize the importance of the price of a gallon of gas today, in fact the cheaper the better but when today’s artificial retail price drives the independent operator out of business ‘Big Oil’ will then have its way, not only on the wholesale end but the retail end as well.”
