Judge: Oil company can limit gas sales

BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) - The Great Gas War of 2012 is over, and the underdog didn't win.

A judge in Bastrop on Tuesday lifted the order imposed last week that required Johnson Oil to sell the Mustang Travel Center near State Highway 21 and U.S. Highway 183 all of the gasoline he ordered.

The station has been receiving only a limited supply since the center's owner, Mo Moghadassi, began charging only $2.99 a gallon while most of his competitors were pulling in 40 to 45 cents more.

That works out to a difference of about $8 to $10 a fill-up, depending on the size of the gas tank.

Moghadassi said he didn't mind taking a loss on gas sales, because the volume of customers more than made up for it with other purchases.

Johnson also sells to Tiger Tote a few miles from Mustang, and the big price swing was hurting Tiger Tote's business.

Under the order handed down Tuesday, Johnson Oil must sell to Mustang, but the supplier is not obligated to sell him all that he asks for.

Johnson has an exclusive contract to sell Mustang fuel. In court, a representative of Johnson Oil denied  pressuring Moghadassi to raise his prices.