Apr 22, 2001

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAQCYTKVLC.html

Gas Costs Jump Nearly 13 Cents Per Gallon

The Associated Press

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) - U.S. gasoline pump prices soared by nearly 13 cents per gallon in the past two weeks even though oil prices remained steady, an analyst said Sunday.

The average price of gas, including all grades and taxes, was $1.67 on Friday, up 12.69 cents, or 8.4 percent, from April 6, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide.

It was the largest two-week jump in terms of cents per gallon since the survey began a half-century ago, analyst Trilby Lundberg said. She did not adjust the figures for inflation, however.

"This is purely a U.S. gasoline market phenomenon, not crude oil, not OPEC," Lundberg said. "Crude oil prices are little changed for weeks now."

Supplies are tight because environmental protection requirements that kick in for spring and summer are forcing more complicated and expensive refining as gasoline is reformulated to produce less smog.

Price hikes ranged from less than 7 cents per gallon for self-serve regular gas in the West - which already had the country's highest prices - to 23 cents in Chicago.

Sam Hussin, manager of a Shell station on Chicago's West Side, said prices also started rising around this time last summer, "but not like this." "Last year two dollars was the max and now it's already over two dollars and the summer just started," Hussin said.

San Francisco had the highest average price at $1.95 and Salt Lake City in Utah had the lowest at $1.43.

No hikes were reported for Honolulu; Anchorage, Alaska; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, apparently because their supplies were not required to be reformulated. Lundberg said she expected some markets will continue to see price increases. But she doubted that the overall average price will hit $2 per gallon "in any foreseeable future."

"The national average price is still a nickel under last June's peak and might never reach it," Lundberg said. "Unless crude oil prices increase significantly or unless an emergency occurs affecting either pipelines or refineries, both gasoline price and supply should soon cease their extreme behavior."

AP-ES-04-22-01 2210EDT

This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAQCYTKVLC.html

-- Swissrose (cellier3@mindspring.com), April 23, 2001

Answers

"The national average price is still a nickel under last June's peak and might never reach it," Lundberg said. "Unless crude oil prices increase significantly or unless an emergency occurs affecting either pipelines or refineries, both gasoline price and supply should soon cease their extreme behavior."

We had a local retailer jack up there regular unleaded to $1.79 and the station stayed empty because across the street it was $1.53 so after a week or so of no business they lowered it to $1.63. It only takes the lowest priced retailer to jack up there price and they will all follow suit. Its that simple. The alternative is riding a bike or taking the bus. They can charge whatever they like. It would just diminish our discretionary spending.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@altavista.com), April 23, 2001.

It's interesting that prices are so high in the San Francisco Bay Area with several refineries located nearby. Here in Northern Arizona the price seems to be holding steady at the same $1.59 for unleaded 87 Octane (Regular) that it has been for most of the last year.

BTW there aren't any refineries that I know of in AZ.

-- NAZFlash (nazflash@northlink.com), April 23, 2001.