simply put - supply and demand in the sf bay we have a dollar difference 4.35 highest 3.35 lowest

I heard that there are oil refineries in the south unlike here in the NW were gas is around $3.50 a gallon. So I guess the farther the oil truck needs to travel makes a difference.

Okay, so I went to a little town neighboring Indianapolis today. In less than a mile the price at three stations were $3.59, $3.20 & $3.48. Of course the station was packed that was priced at $3.20 & I ended up paying $3.59. Supply and demand is not the excuse for this. There is an oil refinery in Indiana. A couple of weeks ago I heard that the price went up because of repairs needing to be done at the refinery in IN. I still don't understand.

There could also be differences in each states gasoline taxes. GASOLINE TAXES AND AVERAGE GASOLINE PRICES MAP Rank, state and local gasoline taxes State State and local gasoline taxes, cents per gallon Rank, average gasoline prices Average price per gallon of unleaded gasoline 1 Connecticut 45.0 3 $3.19 2 California 44.7 2 3.26 3 NEW YORK 43.9 5 3.11 4 Illinois 37.4 4 3.13 5 Michigan 35.2 14 3.00 6 Washington 34.0 8 3.07 7 Wisconsin 32.9 6 3.09 8 Nevada 32.5 12 3.02 9 Pennsylvania 32.3 23 2.95 10 Florida 31.9 26 2.93 11 Hawaii 31.8 1 3.39 12 Rhode Island 31.0 9 3.07 13 Indiana 31.0 15 3.00 14 North Carolina 30.2 33 2.89 15 Maine 28.3 37 2.88 16 Nebraska 28.0 24 2.94 17 Ohio 28.0 27 2.93 18 Montana 27.8 41 2.85 19 West Virginia 27.0 18 2.97 20 Georgia 26.3 31 2.91 21 Kansas 25.0 30 2.92 22 Idaho 25.0 34 2.89 23 Oregon 24.9 19 2.97 24 Utah 24.5 38 2.87 25 South Dakota 24.0 20 2.97 26 Maryland 23.5 10 3.06 27 Massachusetts 23.5 11 3.04 28 Delaware 23.0 7 3.09 29 North Dakota 23.0 17 2.99 30 Minnesota 22.0 21 2.97 31 Colorado 22.0 22 2.96 32 Iowa 22.0 35 2.89 33 Arkansas 21.8 45 2.82 34 Tennessee 21.4 49 2.79 35 New Hampshire 20.6 25 2.94 36 Alabama 20.3 46 2.82 37 Texas 20.0 39 2.87 38 Vermont 20.0 42 2.84 39 Louisiana 20.0 43 2.83 40 Virginia 19.6 36 2.89 41 Arizona 19.0 28 2.93 42 Mississippi 18.8 47 2.81 43 Kentucky 18.5 32 2.91 44 New Mexico 18.0 16 3.00 45 Missouri 17.6 40 3.00 47 South Carolina 16.8 50 2.75 48 New Jersey 14.5 13 3.01 49 Wyoming 14.0 48 2.81 50 Alaska 8.00 29 2.96 U.S. average 28.4 2.96 N.Y.S. above avg. 55% .15 Source: Tax figures, N.Y.S. Department of Taxation and Finance estimate for January 1, 2003; gasoline prices, AAA's