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Station Turns Off Pumps Amid Rising Prices

Station Owner Calls Profit Margin Too Small

POSTED: 5:42 pm EDT May 15, 2008
UPDATED: 7:40 pm EDT May 15, 2008

The high cost of fuel is forcing some gas stations to turn off the pumps.

When Amaral Motors in Newtown opened in 1932, FDR was in the White House, the Yankees swept the Cubs in the World Series, and gas was going for 10 cents a gallon.

"The price, which I doubt will come down, but if it does, I might join again," said Dan Amaral of Amaral Motors.

Amaral said the cost for gas has risen so much that he's turned off his pumps. He said the profit margin isn't enough to justify the investment.

"It's just not economically feasible to put between 30 and 40 grand in the ground and sell it every couple months," he said.

While prices in Connecticut are all over the map, stations in the Newtown area are selling gas at $4.13 a gallon, $4.35 for premium. Amaral said wholesale stores like BJ's have people lining up for gas at $3.81 a gallon.

The national average for a gallon of regular is $3.75. Alaska has the highest gas prices, averaging at $4 per gallon. Connecticut has the second-highest average in the country at $3.99, with California at $3.95.

Amaral said that the cost of the gas in the ground isn't the only expense for independent stations.

"See, I'd have to modernize my pumps," he said. "But see, when you spend that $100,000 to do it, are you going to get a return? It's come now to change, and I don't want to sell bread and milk and that stuff," he said.

For the time being, Amaral said he will stick to selling and repairing cars. He said that if gas prices come back down, he'll consider getting back into the game.

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