Gas Prices, Part 3???

So I was just reading a story on gas prices and how they've reached this all-time high--


By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 18 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Damage to Gulf Coast refineries and pipelines by Hurricane Katrina pushed retail gas prices to historic highs in the past two weeks, with self-serve regular averaging more than $3 a gallon for the first time ever, according to a nationwide survey released Sunday.

The weighted average price for all three grades surged more than 38 cents to nearly $3.04 a gallon between Aug. 26 and Sept. 9, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations around the country.

Self-serve regular averaged $3.01 a gallon nationwide, according to the survey. Midgrade was pegged at about $3.11, while premium-grade was at nearly $3.21.

So what I want to know is where are they getting these prices from????? The LOWEST I've found around here is $3.19 a gallon and that's effective only today after prices dropped. Last Tuesday when I tried to gas up, the cheapest was $3.49 a gallon in this area. I had to drive 30 miles to get a price of $3.39 a gallon. All these prices are regular - I won't even go there for the super and premium because no one can afford them!!!!

I would be thrilled at this point to have $3.01. Someone tell Vermont that their prices are screwy - and as we were in NY yesterday and prices were about 20 cents higher over there - someone needs to tell NY that they have their prices jacked up too high as well!!

I have two roads to go with - either there is some serious price goudging going on in this area, or the Associated Press needs to do their homework a little more thoroughly.