Gas Boycott Runs on Empty; Stations Report No Change

What if they threw a gas-out and nobody came?

It might be something like Ventura County, where few gas stations Friday reported a sales slump from a national boycott that sprung from the Internet, traveling from e-mail to e-mail in response to the explosion of prices at the pump.

“We were expecting something substantial,” said Mark Johnson, the owner of a Chevron station in Thousand Oaks. “We haven’t really noticed much of a difference.”

Many county residents, while bothered by the high prices, may have resigned themselves to shelling out more bucks to fill their tanks. Or they may have simply forgotten about the day of protest, meant to send a message to gas companies, considered by some consumers to be greedy.

The average price for regular unleaded in Southern California last week was $1.61 a gallon, compared with $1.15 six weeks ago, according to a survey by the Automobile Club of Southern California. In Ventura County, the average price was $1.65 last week.

“If no one bought any gas today, half would have bought yesterday, and half would buy tomorrow,” said Scott Espenshade, the Independent Petroleum Assn. of America’s chief economist. “That doesn’t change the demand, it just moves it to a different day.”

Oil companies, which run their inventories on a weekly basis, wouldn’t even notice the change, he said.

Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) has sponsored a bill calling for a change in California’s gas tax. Currently, the first 36 cents on a gas dial goes to state government. That amount is then taxed again as sales tax at the end of a sale, what Strickland calls “a tax on a tax.”

Strickland said he understands drivers’ frustrations.

“You know, I didn’t buy gas today,” he said.