Mashantucket — Heading into Memorial Day weekend, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe announced it was “significantly lowering” the price of gasoline sold at its Pequot Outpost convenience store/gas station at the junction of Routes 2 and 214 near an entrance to Foxwoods Resort Casino.

On Friday, the station was selling regular unleaded for $4.63 a gallon, a price the tribe said it planned to maintain through the weekend, barring any “extreme increases” in costs.

According to AAA, the average price of gas in the New London-Norwich region was $4.662, which was down from $4.669 a week ago and up from $4.019 a month ago and $3.085 a year ago. Friday’s statewide average price was $4.676; nationally, it was $4.599.

“Given the raging inflation that is impacting us all, we made a conscious decision to minimize profit margins on the sale of gas at the Pequot Outpost in an effort to make life a little easier for those around us,” Rodney Butler, the Mashantucket chairman, said in a statement. “We understand this is a small way to provide financial relief for not only patrons, team members, and our tribal community, but also for the greater community at large."

"It was just the right thing to do,” he added.

The tribe said it planned to continue providing reduced-price gas “for as long as possible.” It already was providing tiered discounts to Foxwoods Rewards members as well as a 20-cents-a-gallon discount to all employees of tribal government and Foxwoods.

The station, which pumps Mobil-branded gas, opened in 2012.

— Brian Hallenbeck