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Computer glitch-spurred price war brings gas down to a few cents per gallon

By Ben Hooper
A price war spurred by a computer malfunction caused two Toledo, Ohio, gas stations to briefly drop their prices to mere cents per gallon. Screenshot: WTOL-TV
A price war spurred by a computer malfunction caused two Toledo, Ohio, gas stations to briefly drop their prices to mere cents per gallon. Screenshot: WTOL-TV

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TOLEDO, Ohio, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Gas prices on one Toledo, Ohio, street dropped to a single penny when a computer glitch spurred a price war between two stations.

A clerk at the Pilot Travel Center on Hagman in Toledo told WTOL-TV the 49-cent price about 2:30 a.m. Sunday was caused by a computer glitch, and the glitch continued to drive prices down to 19 cents by 4 a.m.

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The Circle K gas station across the street didn't experience a similar glitch, it simply dropped its price to 17 cents per gallon on purpose to compete with Pilot.

The glitch-spurred price war went on for about three hours, with at least one person bearing a receipt showing a price of just one penny per gallon.

Prices returned to about $1.51 per gallon by the time the sun was up Sunday, with the average in the area at $1.54.

The incident marked the first time gas prices are known to have dropped to 19 cents per gallon in Toledo since the early 1940s.

The national average for gas prices stood at $1.69 per gallon Tuesday.

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