Local

Gas prices expected to rise before leveling off in January

ATLANTA — Consumer investigator Jim Strickland has learned gasoline first destined for drivers in Atlanta is actually getting piped to the northeast, where it fetches a better profit.
          
Strickland's source said the low prices we're enjoying here may be in for an uptick.
           
"Are these $3 prices going to be short lived?," he asked.
           
"They're going away," responded Adriana Acevedo of OS Energy group in Dunwoody.
           
It's her job to find cheap fuel for giant fleet customers. Acevedo buys gasoline in Doraville, just as the convenience stores do.  She said even as pump prices have fallen, the Doraville wholesale price is up 15 cents since Monday.  Acevedo believes the increase in a few days will hit the pumps until supply recovers.
           
"I personally believe that the prices will be lower in January.  Once everybody goes back with their storage levels, so it's a temporary thing," Acevedo said.
           
For now, gas under $3 is common.  With gasbuddy.com, Strickland found it at multiple locations in each metro county he checked.
           
"It's been great because I didn't think it would be this low.   It surprised me," said driver Cindi O'Donnell.

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