ALEXANDRIA, VA - Any time consumers face higher gasoline prices, conspiracy theories and urban legends are sure to follow and proliferate, especially via e-mail.

By now you??ve probably gotten e-mails with copy like this:

"GAS WAR! Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to (fill in the blank) a gallon by the summer. Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action??"

Or maybe it??s this:

"It has been calculated that if everyone in the United States did not purchase a drop of gasoline for one day and all at the same time, the oil companies would choke on their stockpiles??"

Or this:

"It turns out that some oil companies import a lot of middle eastern (sic) oil and others do not import any. I thought it might be interesting for Americans to know which oil companies are the best to buy their gas from."

NACS has developed a fact sheet that debunks these and other gas-related myths. So, the next time a friend tries to be helpful in sharing ideas about gas prices, you may want to share this link.

And, if you receive e-mails with other myths, please forward them to NACS Vice President of Communications Jeff Lenard at jlenard@nacsonline.com and we??ll debunk them, too.