The town may not be attracting the casinos and theme parks but petrol companies are setting up business.
The district of 12,700 is home to nine petrol stations, a petrol station for every 1400 people.
If the same ratio was applied to Dunedin, the city would have 92 stations. The reality is it has about a quarter of that, with just over 20 — a station for every 6100 people.
But no-one in Gore should be complaining as lots of stations brings competition, which brings low prices.
Some of these fuel stations are self-serve and others walk in and pay.
The New Zealand Automobile Association Incorporated (AA) principal policy adviser Terry Collins said the more competition in an area, the better the prices would be.
"The general rule is the more stations [in an area], the greater the competition and usually the lower the price.
"Thames, with a similar population, has four stations and their cheapest price is 10c more expensive than the cheapest in Gore.
"All the Com Com [Commerce Commission] studies say competition makes for sharper prices."
"There is no formula to how many stations is right for a town."
The range of 91-octane prices in the Gore area is from about $2.47 per litre to $2.72 per litre, though specials sometimes drop them lower.
A Balclutha resident said they were conserving their trips and fuel to travel to Gore instead of Balclutha to purchase their petrol and groceries.
"It just seems weird that a fuel tanker seems to be going through the same areas to give these places fuel yet some places are much more expensive than others.
"There is barely any point getting your essentials in Balclutha when Gore has cheaper options in fuel."
Mr Collins said Balclutha had a smaller population and four stations, which meant less competition for fuel prices.
Waitomo Gore was the most recent station to open in the town.
Waitomo group manager customer experience Greta Shirley said Waitomo had already been rolling out new stores in the South Island as part of an expansion, and the Gore station opened in March.
"We had been asked by our customers to open a station in Gore so we did just that.
"We bring competition and choice to the region and don’t feel the need to worry too much about what other people are doing."
Mr Collins said the only limits to how many fuel stations could be in an area were up to district plans and availability of good sites.
