Gas station owner stops selling due to soaring prices, refuses to take 'part' in it

Reynold Gladu said gas prices have become a 'ripoff'

Reynold Gladu has owned a Massachusetts gas station for nearly half a century, but with prices soaring past $5 a gallon he decided enough was enough.

Earlier this month, Gladu emptied the pumps at his station, Ren’s Mobil Service, selling the last remaining gallons after opting not to buy any more. After 48 years in the business, he could no longer go along with what he believed was an industry taking advantage of its customers.

"I don’t want to be part of it anymore," Gladu told the Daily Hampshire Gazette. "This is the biggest ripoff that ever has happened to people in my lifetime."

Gladu blames ExxonMobil and accused them of driving up their prices. He claimed that the company does not "think through their pricing policies anymore."

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"I’ve served their product, but I refuse to do it anymore, because they’re only getting richer," he said.

"Enough is enough," Gladu said. "People shouldn’t have to pay these prices to go to work, to go to church, or to do whatever they have to do. It seems like the oil industry is in this together." 

ExxonMobil, however, stated that they have nothing to do with it.

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"Service stations are individually owned and price their fuel based on local market competition and other business factors," ExxonMobil Corp. operations media manager Julie King told the Gazette. "Prices at the pump are influenced by the price of crude, and wholesale price of products which fluctuate according to demand and supply factors – such as economic conditions and seasonal factors, fuel production, inventory levels, storage and transportation cost."

King also said that a wholesaler supplies Mobil gas, and Gladu acknowledged this. Nevertheless, he accused the oil industry of being "in this together" and that "enough is enough."

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President Biden has also blamed oil companies like ExxonMobil for gas prices, claiming that they are making huge profits without increasing production.

The president has also blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the increase, and inflation in general. While gas prices have jumped since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, they had been climbing steadily beforehand, throughout Biden's presidency.