It used to be that gas stations used to display the prices for all three grades prominently on sign posts. And the price difference between the three grades was typically 10 cents more for 89 octane versus 87, and another 10 cents higher for 93. Fine.

Now I'm finding that a lot of stations are charging about 15 cents more for 89 and up to 15 cents more again for 93. Shell is the worst offender of them all, already starting higher than everyone else at 87, and with the biggest intermediate price tiers. Not so fine.

But what really gets me is that many stations now only post the price of 87, and that's it. BP posts the price of 87 and 89, but omits the 93 price at all of their stations. It's then a guessing game what the price of 93 will be until you pull up to the pump. And more often than not, it's not a pretty sight.

I think it's a clear case of malicious premiumism. And we are all "caught in the crossfire".

For information's sake, here in West Palm Beach the current range for 93 octane is 3.29 (few and far between) to 3.39 (typically at most stations) and even higher at the worst offenders locations like Shell at 3.49.