|
Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
|
Gasoline jumps above $2 a gallon
Quote:
Gasoline jumps above $2 a gallon
Self-serve regular hits $2.017 nationwide, up nearly 8 cents, and is heading higher.
May 18, 2004: 6:16 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Don't look now, but $2 a gallon gas is here.
The average price for regular unleaded gasoline jumped to a record high $2.017 a gallon nationwide, the government reported, up 7.6 cents from the prior week and 52 cents from a year earlier.
Fuel prices are rising because of strong demand ahead of the summer driving season and rising crude oil prices, which account for nearly half the cost of gasoline.
While crude oil futures backed away Tuesday from the record high hit Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange, the slide might only be temporary. The June contract fell to $40.73 a barrel around 1:20 p.m. ET, more than a dollar below the record $41.85 a barrel reached during Monday's session.
The Energy Department has forecast that gasoline will peak at $2.03 a gallon in June, but indications are that the price may go higher.
While $2.017 is a record for gasoline, adjusted for inflation the price hit $2.99 a gallon in March 1981, according to the Energy Information Administration, the department's statistical arm, which surveys service stations weekly.
And while prices are rising, motorists aren't letting that get in the way of their Memorial Day travel plans, according to a AAA survey Tuesday. (For more on the survey results, click here).
Some cutbacks seen
Still, some consumers are starting to feel the pinch at the pump.
Nearly a third of Americans are cutting back on vacation and travel plans for later in the year, and 27 percent are cutting back on eating out because of record high gas prices, a retail survey found Tuesday. (For more on that survey, click here).
Meanwhile, the Bush administration has been criticized for not taking action to find consumers some relief at the pump.
Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry's campaign said Monday the administration's national energy plan, which was announced three years ago this week, has not reduced U.S. reliance on foreign oil or lowered gasoline prices.
"When it comes to crafting consumer-friendly energy policies, George Bush has been an abject failure," a Kerry spokesman said. "While gas prices skyrocket and consumers get pinched, oil companies are raking in record profits."
The Energy Department had no immediate comment on gasoline prices.
A group of Democratic senators planned to introduce a non-binding resolution Tuesday asking the White House to release up to 60 million barrels of crude from the nation's emergency oil stockpile to help lower gasoline prices. But the administration reiterated that it won't take such action unless there's a true supply emergency.
'Stick it to them'
An anonymous e-mail circulating on the Internet urged U.S. consumers to take out their anger against oil companies by skipping any fuel purchases Wednesday.
"May 19th has been formally declared 'Stick it to them' day and the people of this nation should not buy a single drop of gasoline that day," the message reads.
The EIA's weekly report showed the retail price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, sold in polluted metropolitan areas, rose 7.8 cents to $2.095 a gallon.
The West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline, with the price up 4.3 cents to $2.243 a gallon. The city in which gas is most expensive is Los Angeles, where prices jumped 5.4 cents to $2.304.
The U.S. Gulf Coast had the cheapest fuel by region, with the price up 6.7 cents at $1.885 per gallon. Houston is the city with the most affordable gasoline at $1.847 a gallon, up 6.4 cents.
The weekly report also showed gasoline prices were up 9 cents to $2.251 in Seattle, up 13.5 cents to $2.149 in Chicago, up 10.2 cents to $2.038 in New York City, up 7.7 cents to $2.034 in Miami, and up 12.9 cents to $2.019 in Cleveland.
The EIA also said the average pump price for diesel fuel rose to $1.763 a gallon, up 1.8 cents from the prior week and 32 cents from a year earlier.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Reuters contributed to this report
Find this article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/18/pf/a...ex.htm?cnn=yes
|
Nice.
Now people say things like we're warring for oil. No Blood for Oil. Bush and Co. are all people who've been part of the oil cartel etc. etc. etc. (please read that like the King of Siam from The King and I)
They seem to forget that over the past couple decades the tree huggers have all be NIMBY (not in my backyard) about building oil refineries and oil storage tanks. We've found more and more oil so there's no real shortage. There's a shortage in processing it.
Instead of having a dual pronged attack at allowing a few new refineries and storage tanks AND forcing higher CAFE standards, they opted to just say, "Nope, NIMBY!"
They forgot about making sure to lobby Congress about SUVs and the light truck segment. They forgot to press for better accountability from the automakers.
Well bully for them. I hope that though they may have some gas sippers, that they pay $5 per gallon just like the rest of the world. I hope that the SUV owners have to pay $5 per gallon because they didn't THINK about operating costs or extra maintenance cost, TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP.
I got a little Neon for a reason. Heck I would have had a Honda if the dealer wasn't a dick and I didn't get a bargain on the Neon.
__________________
I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.
|