NORWICH – A push generated over the Internet to boycott purchasing gas nationwide Tuesday created plenty of buzz, but did it gain momentum locally?

According to several gas station managers and consumers in Norwich, not really.

What in recent years has become an annual response to rising gas prices and oil company profits just prior to the peak summer driving season, the e-mail embargo apparently didn’t have much effect on the rest of the country either – at least it hasn’t shown any. Based on the AAA daily fuel gauge report for today – the day after the national “gas out” was supposed to significantly lower prices as much as $.30 overnight – the national average per gallon went up over two cents.

“One day is not going to matter,” said Norwich resident Betsy Mahannah, who was aware of the boycott but decided to get gas Tuesday at the Hess station anyway. “The people that did participate were up here yesterday filling up or they’ll be here tomorrow. We have to decrease the demand – it’s a lot more than a one-day ordeal.”

Energy and travel experts say avoiding the pumps for one day will have no impact on prices, acknowledging it will take either an increase in domestic oil refinery capacity to meet the demand, or a concerted effort by the public to decrease its overall gas consumption in order to lower prices.