Buy local? When it comes to gas, that is a problem, since the price of regular at an “independent” station in the town of Floyd is 20 cents a gallon higher than the posted price on a BP station in Roanoke and 10 cents lower on an Exxon than the same brand at the Circle K Exxon station here.

I paid 25 cents less than any Floyd price at a Shell station with the use of a discount card. Since I had to be in Roanoke for medical tests, the savings were real and questions remain on why the price in Floyd is going back up when they are dropping elsewhere?

There were some prices of $4.09 a gallon at some stations in the Roanoke area but many other stations — including mainstream brands — remained at $3.99 or lower. Roanoke, like Floyd, has to pay the extra tax for support of I-81.

According to Gas Buddy, a website that tracks gas prices nationwide, a gallon of regular gas in Roanoke can be had at CITGO at $3.79 a gallon or Exxon, both in Vinton for $3.84 cents a gallon and $3.89 at BP in Salem. Sam’s Club, an independent station has a gallon or regular at $3.76 — 33 cents a gallon cheaper than at Express Mart in Floyd, which raised its prices two days ago from $3.99 to $4.09 and then $4.19 a gallon the day after.

President Joe Biden, on March 31, ordered the release of a million gallons a day for the next six months from the nation’s strategic oil supply. That, and other factors, brought prices in Floyd down from $4.29 a gallon down to $3.99 by mid-April but they started going back up again in our area this week.

Not so in other areas, where the price remains at $3.99 a gallon or lower.

Which begs the question: Inflation or inflated greed by those running some of our area gas stations?

Thankfully, I have medical appointments in the Roanoke and New River Valley for the next few weeks and, hopefully, moderation will remain a key at gas stations there.