TUCSON (KVOA) – President Joe Biden put a ban on Russian oil imports Tuesday in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.
What does the oil ban mean for southern Arizona?
“There is plenty of supply in Arizona, so consumers shouldn’t have to panic and keep tanks full at this time,” said Jesse Lugo, a local expert.
Lugo sells wholesale fuel to independent marketers in Arizona.
For the last 50 years, he has been involved in the fuel business as a retailer and now wholesaler.
He said Tucsonans rely on getting fuel from Texas.
“It normally takes 3 to 4 weeks to get fuel to fuel terminals here in Tucson that is stored here off to the Kinder Morgan terminals,” he said. “Then every refinery has storage capacity that they can then fill the stations they supply throughout metro Tucson.”
He says price gouging may be a problem.
News 4 Tucson spoke to people at the gas pump. They said they knew what the president was doing and why. What they don’t understand is the different prices around town and why some gas prices are more expensive than others.
An example, according to Gas Buddy, the highest price of gas in Tucson is $4.79 a gallon. That gas station is off of Interstate 10. Just over a mile from there is another gas station, same company and the gas is 40 cents cheaper.
Jose Felix commented, “It’s not right,” said Jose Felix. “People are making money and other stores are not so much giving us a break but at least they are not digging into our pockets to see how much more they can get.”
According to AAA, Arizona is averaging $4.29 a gallon as of Tuesday. That is up 17 cents from Monday’s record high average.
One week ago, Arizona’s average was $3.82.
In Tucson, the current average is $4.26 a gallon. It’s up 20 cents from one week ago, when the average was $3.73.
“Any gas station by the freeway they are 10 cents more than anywhere else,” said Luis Quiroz. “You go into town, you go further into town it’s cheaper. I don’t understand the difference.”
News 4 Tucson asked the Arizona Attorney Generals’ Office about how they stop price gouging across the state. In a statement they said:
“Arizona does not have laws regarding price gouging. Nevertheless, Arizonans can be assured that our office vigorously enforces consumer protection and antitrust laws. Anyone who has evidence of price fixing or consumer fraud involving the oil and gas industry, is encouraged to file a complaint on our website.”
Tucsonans aren’t the only ones feeling the pain at the pump.
People traveling through town are already experiencing even higher prices.
“I am actually from California and we are already at $5, so it’s ridiculous,” said Troy Perrone.
To see Arizona’s average gas prices, click here.
