On April 3, 2024, X user @Stefild posted (archived) a picture of a Chevron gas station purportedly located in Los Angeles, California. The sign displayed the very high regular-grade gas price of $7.59 per gallon. By comparison, on the same day, AAA reported the California average gas price as $5.15 and U.S. average as $3.55. In other words, the price displayed on the sign was more than double the national average.
"Want some gas in Las [sic] Angeles?," @Stefild posted. "Thanks Joe Biden. Liberals would rather pay for this and starve, over mean tweets."
The Original Facebook Post
The photo of the sign was originally posted two days earlier on Facebook. It was captured at the Chevron station at 901 Alameda St. in the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, apparently on April 1. The date was a coincidence in that this rumor did not involve an April Fools' Day joke.
The Truth
Snopes found no reason to doubt the authenticity of the picture and its displayed gas prices. However, here's the truth: This Chevron station in Chinatown – which is right next to the bustling Union Station and is near at least three different freeways – is in no way representative of other local gas prices.
The Los Angeles Times once published the Chinatown Chevron station is "infamous for its sky-high prices."
Several nearby gas stations offer much lower prices. All drivers would need to do is drive a very short distance to save money. For example, a six-minute drive east of the Chevron station is the C & J gas station (North Main Services), which currently displays a regular-grade gas price of $4.79 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com. That's a savings of $2.80 per gallon when compared to the pricey Chevron.
(Source: GasBuddy.com)
On Google Maps, a user who submitted a 1-star review for the Chevron station wrote, "The most EXPENSIVE gas station prices in all of Los Angeles. This is their price as [of] December 31, 2023: $7.39 -$7.49. Unbelievable!" Other user reviews similarly criticized the gas station's prices as being abnormally high.
(Source: Google Maps)
One person on X similarly posted "[people] always uses this Chinatown Chevron when posting about high gas prices in LA lmao," also referring to pictures of the station's sign as being "scarebait."
Unlike other gas stations, the prices for the Chinatown Chevron station are not provided online or in the Chevron mobile app. Further, we called the Chevron station and an employee said staff were not allowed to provide current gas prices by phone.
We contacted @Stefild via a direct message to ask about the post. In response, she said, "I chose to post it because I wanted people in other states, particularly red states, to know how expensive gas can get in California."
'A Ridiculous and False Narrative'
This story involves the puzzling, silly and often politically driven assumption made by some people that a single photo of one gas station is somehow representative of all other gas stations.
"Using one station $2.50/gal above the average is clearly being used to drive a ridiculous and false narrative," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for the website GasBuddy.com, told Snopes by email. "It's like equating a $100 million house as the average selling price of a home in America and ignoring the average price, which is far far more representative of the average American's experience."
Prior to us sending questions to De Haan, he responded to @Stefild's post on X, writing, "This station is no where near representative of California's prices (averaging $5.13/gal today). In addition, California's prices being high has nothing to do with the White House and everything to do with California-inflicted regulation."
He continued to provide his analysis of the matter in a brief thread, asking @Stefild, "Under that logic, you're also thanking Joe Biden for these current [gas prices] in Mississippi?" His post included a screenshot of low prices in the Magnolia State.
De Haan then pointed out U.S. presidents have "little control over gas prices," and said this was "because oil and gasoline are global commodities subject to global supply and demand, something the [White House] is powerless over, Democrat or Republican."
GasBuddy.com's Nonpartisan Analysis
In De Haan's email response to Snopes, he referenced his post on X about gas prices in Mississippi and also the Chinatown Chevron station, writing, "Just like my post of $2.70 prices is not representative of a larger area and what people are experiencing, this post of $7.59/gal gasoline is even more egregious to use. At least in my example, I used several dozen stations below $3. This is one station that has decided not to be competitive."
"GasBuddy has no shortage of stations well-known to us for charging grossly in excess of average prices. This station has been doing this for over five years. Even while Trump was in the White House, I found individual stations charging over $5 and $6 in some areas of the country."
De Haan also spent part of his morning on April 3 posting a fact check of a false claim previously made by Biden. "Busting myths on both sides of the aisle. I can't stand misinformation on [gas prices], no matter who's mouth it's coming out of," he wrote.
As we previously reported, GasBuddy.com has been cited as a credible source by numerous news organizations and political blogs, including Fox News, MSNBC, Breitbart, CNN, The Daily Caller, CBS News, RedState, ABC News, The Daily Wire and HuffPost. In other words, the website has all the signs of being a trustworthy and nonpartisan source for data and analysis involving the world of fuel prices.