Reply #4: Gulf Oil Exec Proposes Price Cap Program [View All]

[ozymandius]

BOSTON - Joe Petrowski would like nothing more than to see gasoline prices drop like a rock. But if they don't, the chief executive of Gulf Oil LP thinks he's hit upon a plan to help mitigate sky-high gas prices for the average driver.

Petrowski is working on creating price-cap and price-lock systems similar to programs that home heating oil companies have been offering for more than a decade to protect consumers from severe price spikes.

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The first aspect of Petrowski's program, reported Thursday by The Patriot Ledger of Quincy, would allow consumers to buy prepaid cards for a certain amount of gasoline at a set price. If the price at the pump rises, the card holder would still pay the lower price they locked in with their prepaid card.

"If the price goes up, you have locked in your price," he said. "You wouldn't have to use the card if the price of gas went down."

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