Gas prices take mysterious jump

It has been said that different groups and events bring added revenue to an area. I am sure that this holds true for the Grand Strand area.

I do not profess to know the dollar amounts, but I am sure that between the Spring/Easter breakers and the 3,000-odd classic car owners and their followers (this was the number that I read in The Sun News) that just descended on the area the added benefit has to be at least in the hundreds of thousands if not the millions of dollars.

I know and have read that usually this added revenue comes from more hotel/motel rooms being rented, more people eating and drinking in more restaurants/bars and more people spending their money at area attractions.

What I did not realize until last week (actually I've observed it over the past 3 weeks) was how much of that added revenue comes from not-so -subtle increase in gas prices.

Just as spring break was starting, I noticed that the average price of gas went up about 10 cents per gallon. Okay, I thought, the price of a barrel of crude went up a little so maybe it was justified.

Then I went out the day after the influx of 3,000 classic cars and to my utter amazement every gas station that I drove past from North Myrtle Beach to the area of the YMCA in Myrtle Beach on U.S. 17 had raised the price on their pumps by at least 10 cents and this was done overnight.

I think what really amazed me was the fact that this rise in prices was not done at one or two stations, but unilaterally at every station I passed.

Now I know that a price increase such as this does not meet the threshhold of price-fixing, but I am left to wonder, just how did every station know how much to raise their prices and all on the same day?

Yes, this bothers me as a winter visitor, but I cannot help but feel sorry for those who live here full time and have to suffer through these gas price increases long after the winter visitor, or spring breaker, or car enthusiast leaves.

I am sure that somewhere, someone will provide what they think is a logical reason for these increases, but it will be hard to convince me that these sudden increases are anything more than basic greed at the expense of your visitors and residents alike.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Gas prices take mysterious jump."