Though gleeful about the historic drop in gas prices over the past six months, I’m smart enough to know the nosedive can’t continue indefinitely and that prices at the pump eventually will either level off or start to tick up.

But a 13-cent jump in one day?

Driving from my house back to the Freeman after my dinner break on Friday, I noticed the Getty station at the corner of Washington and Lucas avenues in Uptown Kingston was charging $1.66 for a gallon of regular unleaded – a price that had been in place for a few days and was in line with what stations nearby were charging.

About four hours later, driving home at the end of my shift, the same Getty station, which had closed for the night, had jacked its regular unleaded price to $1.79.

Huh?

I realize the price of oil has risen in the last week after falling to a five-year low just before New Year’s, but nothing in the marketplace justified an all-at-once 13-cent increase at the Getty station – especially when the Stewart’s shop and Exxon station less than half a mile down Lucas Avenue still were charging $1.66 last night and gas in the region could be had for a little as $1.55.

If all is right with the world, the Getty price is just an aberration, and it will come down just as quickly as it went up when the owner realizes the error of his ways.

But if other local stations start to follow suit, which often happens when one makes such a dramatic move, I fear this could be the start of an ugly trend.