Was gasoline costing $8.88 a gallon at a Murphy USA gas station in Jasper, Alabama, in early June 2022? No, that's not true: A representative for Murphy USA emailed Lead Stories to say that the Jasper location was not open for business when this picture was taken because the station was still under construction.
The claim appeared in a Facebook post on June 7, 2022. The post reads:
The new Murphy's in Jasper done went full Joe Biden on us. #buildingbackbetter
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
Lead Stories reached out to Murphy USA about the post, and a representative emailed us on June 9, 2022, to explain what was actually going on in this picture:
... I can confirm that the store referenced by your link was not open at the time the image was taken. It was still under construction at the time and therefore we were not offering to sell fuel for $8.88 per gallon. Upon its open, we look forward to providing fuel and convenience items at competitive prices to customers in that location.
The store is expected to open the week of June 13, 2022, the representative said. If it had been open at the time of writing, regular unleaded gasoline would have been $4.49 a gallon, but that price would be subject to change based on "future market movements and other factors," the company said.
As for why any price was posted at an unopened gas station, the Murphy USA representative said:
Once installed the sign has to display numbers. The installer defaulted to 888 but could have just as easily defaulted to 000, which if interpreted wrong would indicate free gas.
