A Massachusetts gas station owner fed up with what he considers attempts by oil companies to fleece customers with outrageously high prices at the pump has stopped selling gas as a protest.
Reynold Gladu, who has run Ren’s Mobil Service in downtown Amherst for nearly 50 years, drained his tanks earlier this month and has no current plans to refill them.
“I don’t want to be part of it anymore,” Gladu told The Daily Hampshire Gazettefor a story published Tuesday. “This is the biggest rip-off that ever has happened to people in my lifetime.”
Gasoline in Massachusetts is averaging more than $5 per gallon, according to AAA New England.
The business will continue to do oil changes and other repairs, but Gladu acknowledges it is unlikely he will be able to remain open for long without selling gas.
“Dealing with Mobil, they don’t think through their pricing policies anymore,” Gladu said. “I’ve served their product, but I refuse to do it anymore, because they’re only getting richer.”
Julie King, a spokesperson for ExxonMobil Corp., wrote in an email to the newspaper that the price at the pump is out of her company’s control and is based on several factors, including the price of crude.