Starting Thursday, May 30, Kroger will be offering its popular quadruple gasoline rewards promotion when you purchase gift cards.

When readers ask for my favorite ways to save money, this deal always ranks in my top five.

Here's how it works:

North Carolina's lobbying group for the politically influential oil-and-gas industry is getting a new executive director for the first time in nearly four decades.

The leadership change at the N.C. Petroleum Council comes at a time that state lawmakers are debating fracking, the most contentious energy policy in at least a half-century.

David McGowan, 33, a lobbyist for the N.C. Association of Realtors, will replace Bill Weatherspoon, who retired last month after 39 years on the job. Weatherspoon turns 70 on Tuesday.

The Petroleum Council, a one-man shop that hires contract lobbyists as needed, is the state office of the American Petroleum Institute, the nation's voice of big oil and natural gas.

This week I interviewed Jim Simons, the former director of the N.C. Division of Land Resources, about his battle with Parkinson’s disease, his participation in drug clinical trials and his work as a research advocate.

Simons, 64, retired in May so he could spend more of his good hours with his wife and family. He grew up in High Point, got a degree in geology from UNC-CH and spent the past 40 years in Raleigh working for the state, the last 10 as the state geologist.

The Division of Land Resources was recently renamed the Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources after it was given dominion over oil and gas exploration. Gas, as in shale gas, as in fracking.

We spent some time talking about his position on fracking, information that didn’t really fit into what I was writing, but it seemed worth sharing.

On my last fill up, I paid $1.60 per gallon for gasoline.

That's not a typo.

While I was at it, I filled up my husband's tank and my son's.

All totaled, we paid $55.96 for 35 gallons of gas.

Just a few days ago, a reader asked me to name my most favorite recent deal and I would have to say this ranks at the very top.

It was most definitely a cheap thrill driving away from the pumps. After all, we haven't seen $1.60 per gallon gas in the Triangle since 2008, and then only briefly.

Working Kroger's fuel rewards program to your advantage, you, too, can fill your tank at a Kroger gas station on the cheap. Here's how:

Food Lion is offering a nice little incentive to shoppers this week in the form of a free $10 gasoline gift card.

With BOGO sales and coupons, this might work out to be a pretty nice deal for you.

Here are the details:

The Pantry reported a wider net loss in the second quarter as the convenience store chain was hurt by higher gasoline prices.

The company had a loss of $9.7 million, or 43 cents, a share, compared with a loss of $300,000, or 1 cent a share, during the second quarter of 2011.

After excluding impairment charges and loss on extinguishment of debt, the company's net loss was $6.7 million, or 30 cents per share, compared to a gain of 1 cent per share in the prior year.

That was better than the 37 cents a share loss that Wall Street analysts predicted.

The Pantry has more than 1,600 stores throughout the Southeast, primarily under the Kangaroo Express brand.

Comparable store merchandise sales at those stores increased 4.8 percent in the quarter and total merchandise gross profit for the quarter was $145.4 million, up $400,000 from the second quarter a year ago.

While The Pantry sold about the same amount of fuel in the quarter as the year prior, its fuel gross profit decreased 30 percent in the quarter. Retail fuel margin per gallon fell to $0.096 from $0.137 a year ago.

The average retail fuel price per gallon was about 20 percent higher in the second quarter than in the same period in 2011.

"We were pleased with our positive comparable store merchandise sales and fuel gallon trends within the quarter," CEO Dennis Hatchell said in a statement.

"Fuel gross profit was negatively impacted by consistently rising wholesale fuel costs, which was partially offset by our ongoing expense management efforts."

He added that the company continues to reduce its debt, having repaid $94 million this year.

The town of Cary may tonight ask that state legislators leave local governments some power over oil and gas drilling. A Cary Town Council resolution would urge legislators to allow towns and cities to decide what local land is appropriate for fracking, the controversial method of natural gas extraction that the state may soon legalize.

Currently, the rules governing fracking are unclear because the practice is illegal in this state. But if the North Carolina General Assembly un-bans hydraulic fracturing this summer, drillers could pump highly pressurized water and chemicals to break up prehistoric shale rock formations that hold natural gas far underground.

Cary's proposal would not attempt to grant the town new powers or cement any policy in place; instead, it asks the General Assembly to "preserve local governments'" power to designate certain areas as appropriate or inappropriate for drilling. The resolution acknowledges the economic windfalls fracking might bring, but urges a "thoughtful and deliberative" approach to potential pitfalls.

It's unclear yet whether Cary will be a lucrative spot for the practice. West Cary is part of a large basin which may contain gas reserves, and the practice may influence Cary one way or another, but no potential drilling areas "have yet been identified in this area," according to a recent town report.

Shale gas is most strongly believed to exist beneath a 1,400-square-mile area centered around Lee, Moore and Chatham counties, and possibly including western Wake County.

Advocates of fracking say it will supply bountiful amounts of a relatively clean fuel to offset dirty coal and oil imported from hostile regimes. Critics say it can contaminate water, and cause earth tremors and other environmental and public health problems.

With new doors potentially opening for the gas industry, Cary and other cities are jockeying for local influence over the new industry. And early signs at the state level show legalization is a real possibility: A draft report by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, issued this month, stated that fracking can be done safely so long as protections are in place.

In other states, numerous local governments have made firmer attempts to regulate or restrict fracking, sometimes resulting in litigation by energy companies. In Cary, the Shale Gas Development Task Force, a board of residents and staffers who helped craft tonight's resolution, will continue to investigate the practice.

If you're a fan of Kellogg's cereal, don't toss those boxes before you clip the UPC codes. There's free money involved.

Kellogg's has reissued an extremely generous offer that can earn you up to $50 in FREE gas money.

Stung by high gasoline prices and high unemployment in many of its markets, The Pantry reported third quarter earnings Tuesday that missed Wall Street estimates.

The Cary-based convenience store chain, which has more than 1,600 stores throughout the Southeast, reported net income, excluding one-time charges, of $21 million, or 93 cents per share, compared to 89 cents per share during the same period a year ago.

That was below the consensus among analysts who follow the company of $1.22 per share.

Merchandise sales at Pantry stores decrease 1.5 percent, compared to a 7.7 percent increase during the same period a year ago.

Rising oil prices have been driving up the cost of gas, and consumers have responded by spending less on other things.

Beginning Monday, Kroger shoppers will be able to redeem their fuel rewards at 42 area Shell stations as well as at Kroger stores with gas pumps. The deal between Shell and Kroger substantially expands the loyalty program's reach.

Kroger shoppers who swipe their loyalty card when they shop receive a point for every dollar they spend in stores, and they can earn additional points for actions like filling prescriptions at the stores' pharmacies. When shoppers accumulate 100 points, they are rewarded with a 10-cent discount on a fill-up of up to 35 gallons. However, until now, shoppers have only been able to claim that discount at the five Triangle Kroger locations with gas pumps.

At the 42 participating Triangle-area Shell stations, Kroger rewards members will be able to enter their card number to initiate the redemption process. A company spokesman said the website www.shell.us/kroger is being updated and will reflect the new locations by Monday when the program launches.