by Rising oil prices are making local gas stations feel the impact of the Iran war. And with gas prices rising over a dollar since the fighting broke out, consumers and sellers of gas have been struggling to stay afloat.
Waleed Zaro, a UMN computer science graduate who has worked at his family-owned gas station since he was 14, said it’s difficult for gas stations to keep up with the market.
“when prices shoot up, you can only do so much as raise the prices, cause there’s other people struggling,” he said.
The retail price that stations charge is closely related to what a barrel of oil costs. That price has recently peaked at well over $110.
“Uh, it used to be, like, 60, $70, so, uh, prices almost doubled, of gas,” he said. “It’s affecting everybody, but who knows what’s the ultimate goal, and, you know, I just gotta live through it day by day.”
As a result higher oil prices, gas prices also can’t keep up with the profit margins that gas stations are used to operating under.
“Our margins may be the same, like, you make a dollar or something, but, uh, the percentage is not the same. So we usually strive for 35%,” Zaro said. “But now, it’s getting into 25% profit margins, and when stuff happens like that, it still sounds like a good amount of profit, but when you’re selling stuff, it’s very hard to stay at home.”
Zaro also said that although it’s tough for Americans, it’s important to be grateful that it isn’t any worse.
“Gas is already growing up here in America, but we got to look at other countries also, where gas goes as high as $10 in Australia. Philippines and like Thailand. They’re issuing a state of emergency, so, uh, honestly, everybody’s getting affected all around the world, so we just gotta be grateful for what we have, and we just gotta live through it. And, uh, hopefully, you know, everything gets back to normal, and that’s what we strive for,” he said.
Even people with no other connection to the war half a world away are feeling its effects here in the Twin Cities. UMN strategic communications student Will Grass said that although he’s lucky to afford gas, the Iran war has been something stressful to think about.
“I’d say, like, they definitely have been affecting me recently. Whether you like Donald Trump or not, that war on Iran and all that is definitely affected us here.”
