Greensboro station owner feels pinch as gas prices climb above $4

A new Shell station off Summit Avenue is trying to stay under the $4 mark even as the market pushes higher around it. Shiv Oza, the station’s new owner, was selling regular gas for $3.99 a gallon while North Carolina’s average hit $4.145 on May 12, putting pressure on both Greensboro drivers and the independent retailer behind the counter.

The spread helps show how the squeeze works. North Carolina’s average was about 22.5 cents higher than a month earlier, when regular gas averaged $3.92, and up more than $1.30 from $2.84 a year ago. The national average was even higher at $4.504, roughly 35.9 cents above the state figure, which means Greensboro’s pump prices are rising inside a broader fuel rally rather than as a standalone local spike.

For Oza, who opened the station last week and expects a grand opening soon, the challenge is keeping prices low enough to draw customers without giving up too much margin. Independent station owners do not have the same cushion as larger chains, so every wholesale increase, every credit card fee and every tax on the gallon cuts more deeply. North Carolina’s gasoline motor-fuels excise tax was 41 cents per gallon for the year, another fixed cost that gets built into the price drivers see at the pump.

That matters on Summit Avenue and across Guilford County because gas prices quickly ripple through daily life. Commuters notice the difference on repeated trips to work and school. Delivery drivers feel it in every route. Small businesses that depend on fuel to move people or goods have less room to compete when gas prices rise, especially if they must charge a little more just to cover operating costs.

The latest jump also fits a broader pattern that has long made fuel prices a sensitive issue across the Piedmont Triad and the East Coast. When the Colonial Pipeline shutdown hit in May 2021, North Carolina saw long lines, shortages and panic buying, a reminder of how dependent the region is on steady fuel flows. That history still shapes how quickly shoppers and station owners react when prices rise.

For Greensboro’s independent retailers, the math is now the story. A pump price that looks like a bargain compared with the state average can still leave little room to breathe, and that tension is likely to remain as long as wholesale prices stay elevated.