DECATUR, Ind. — A widening price gap at the pump is fueling frustration across Northeast Indiana as local gas prices surged to $4.79 per gallon Wednesday, even as neighboring Northwest Ohio stations held steady at $3.99.
The nearly 80-cent difference comes despite a recent move by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to suspend the state’s 7% gasoline use tax. While the “tax holiday” was intended to provide relief, residents in border towns like Decatur are finding that market volatility and regional supply logistics have quickly erased any potential savings.
“It doesn’t make sense,” said local resident John Miller, while fueling up in Decatur. “We’re told the tax is gone, but the price goes up 40 cents overnight. You drive 20 minutes into Van Wert, and it’s like a different world.”
Industry experts point to a “perfect storm” of factors driving the disparity. While Indiana suspended its sales tax on fuel, it maintained the $0.36 per gallon excise tax. Simultaneously, a sharp rise in global crude prices—driven by escalating conflict in the Middle East—hit Indiana’s primary supply hubs in the Chicago area harder and faster than the refinery-rich corridors of Northwest Ohio.
“Indiana often experiences what we call ‘price cycling,'” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Stations in Indiana tend to drop prices aggressively to compete and then ‘reset’ them all at once when margins get too thin. When you combine that reset with a global oil spike, you get the dramatic jumps consumers are seeing today.”
In Northwest Ohio, proximity to refining centers in Lima and Toledo often creates a “buffer” for local stations. Because these stations have lower transportation costs and direct access to regional supply, they are frequently slower to hike prices than their counterparts across the state line.
The Indiana Attorney General’s office has encouraged residents to monitor the “IN Fuel Watch” portal, a new initiative designed to track whether retailers are passing the tax savings on to consumers or using market volatility to pad profit margins.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Indiana sat at $4.21, though many rural and border-area stations remained significantly higher. In Ohio, the state average hovered at $4.02, with Van Wert remaining one of the lowest-priced pockets in the region.