There’s been at least one bright spot during a mostly rainy week in Nome – local fuel prices have dropped by more than a dollar.
For instance, a motorist in Nome can now fuel up at either of the two local gas stations for less than $4 a gallon. On Friday, gas dropped to as low as $3.69 at one location.
“We [Bonanza] purchased our fuel back in May when the world oil markets were in a bit of turmoil and prices were pretty low and we got some attractive pricing.”
– Scot Henderson
That’s Scot Henderson, CEO of Bonanza Fuel, explaining why Nome consumers are finally getting the benefit of lower fuel prices that other Americans were experiencing months earlier.
When the coronavirus pandemic began, the price of crude oil plummeted. They’ve already started to bounce back as the oil industry begins to recover, but according to Henderson fuel prices shouldn’t rise for a while in Nome.
“One of the advantages that we have here is because we purchase our fuel basically a year at a time or longer, Nome is going to benefit from these prices for a much longer timeframe.”
This year however, Henderson explains that Bonanza Fuel only had their fuel deliveries scheduled for July, so it’s taken some time for those savings to get passed on to local consumers.
“We’re excited, it’s nice to be able to provide lower energy costs for the community. It’s timely that because of COVID-19 a lot of businesses and households have been under a lot of financial stress. So we’re hoping that providing lower prices to the community will help Nome and its residents and businesses to recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic.”
The lowered prices will also extend to heating fuel too. But, Henderson says Bonanza isn’t expecting more deliveries this year.
In addition, as one of their business partners, Henderson says the City of Nome should also see a decrease in prices by about a dollar a gallon.
Image at Top: Gas prices dropped by over $1 earlier this week, as shown Bonanza Express on Bering Street in Nome. Photo from Emily Hofstaedter, KNOM (August, 2020)
