DERRY — Gas is cheap at the Hess gas station on 50 Birch Road — for now.
The station slashed its gas prices by 8 cents to $3.87 a gallon for the grand opening yesterday. The prices beat most stations in the area by 6 to 12 cents a gallon. The sale will continue through Saturday.
The gas won't be at a fixed rate for the three-day sale, but the station will keep its price lower than other stations in the area, said Terri Bean, regional marketing representative for the company. Bean said gas wouldn't go higher than $3.87 a gallon during the sale.
Customers appreciated the price break, but wanted to see the low prices last a little longer. Gene Courrier, a Derry resident for 17 years, pulled into the station because of its proximity to her home, but liked the price when she saw it above the pump.
"I didn't even realize it when I pulled in, but it's great," she said. "It would be wonderful if it stayed like this."
Some drivers stopped at the pumps because they saw the low price from the street.
Laurie Nadeau, who is from New Boston and works in Derry, thought the price was a deserved break for consumers, but she wanted more.
"It should go lower. The government should do something about it," she said. "The government should have done something about it 30 years ago."
Some who visited the station were unaware the low price was a grand-opening special. When Shelley Peterson, 38, of Sandown saw the price, she thought it had to do with global oil prices.
"I didn't know if it was related to a drop in barrel prices or if it was a sale," she said, filling her minivan. "It's better than nothing, and I need gas anyway."
The sale could have an impact on gas prices in the area for the next few days. An employee at Cumberland Farms on Broadway said the store lowered its price to $3.89 a gallon to compete with the sale at Hess. Bean said she expected some of the stations in the area to lower their rates.
The Shell station on Nashua Road in Londonderry won't change its prices in reaction, according to Faysal Azar, station manager. He said if a nearby competitor dropped its price, then his store would probably adjust. But because of the Hess station's location and because the three-day sale is for a grand opening, his prices will stay the same. Unleaded gas cost $3.99 a gallon at the Shell station yesterday.
The Hess station opened in mid-May, but has taken the last couple of months to work out the kinks before having its grand opening, Bean said. The station's ten pumps were busy during the day yesterday, and Bean said she expected them to get busier as people got out of work in the evening and on Saturday.
