Next stop: $3.35 per gallon, according to fuel experts

[Screaming Red]

I'd feel really smug about my Prius if not for the 2000 Expedition loafing in the driveway...
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Next stop: $3.35 per gallon, according to fuel experts
Rolf Boone - The Olympian - 4/5/07

South Sound drivers, prepare yourselves.

Experts say the area could see a summer with prices as high as $3.35 per gallon for regular unleaded fuel. And the march to higher fuel costs already has begun.

A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the Olympia area Wednesday cost an average of $2.99, more than 30 cents higher than last year, according to AAA gasoline data.

AAA spokeswoman Janet Ray said the following are among the factors that have contributed to higher fuel prices:

• Increased springtime demand.
• Seasonal refinery maintenance.
• Geopolitical tensions in Iraq and Iran.
• Strong worldwide demand for fuel.

Another factor is the change from a winter blend of fuel to a more expensive summer blend used to meet air-quality standards in warmer weather, Ray said.

“If trends stay the same, we will see record gasoline prices this summer,” she said.

Tim Hamilton, executive director of the nonprofit Automotive United Trades Organization, predicts that regular unleaded prices could top out at about $3.35 per gallon this summer. The organization represents independent gasoline dealers in Washington.

“But if we have a refinery fire, we’re going to see 4 dollars pretty fast,” he added.

Hamilton said rising fuel prices aren’t just a hardship for drivers. Dealers have to pay rising prices to sell the fuel, which endangers their businesses, he said.

Higher fuel and credit-card costs have nearly forced gasoline station operator Stan Parker out of the business, he says.

In the past 25 years, Parker has operated 14 stations, but he recently sold his last two in Rainier and Tumwater.

Today, he is on a short-term lease to operate an Olympia Shell station owned by the Port of Olympia.

Parker thinks oil companies are controlling gasoline prices.

“They know they can get away with it and no one is going to bother them,” he said. “They call it ‘market jitters’ or ‘market forces,’ but that’s a bunch of bull.”

Customers at Hulbert’s Shell station in Olympia on Wednesday weren’t too concerned about higher prices.

Home inspector Tom Targus of Lacey, who travels as far as Westport to do inspections, expects to pass on his higher fuel costs to his customers in the form of a $15 surcharge for his services.

Rachel Carlson of Olympia said she has grown accustomed to higher fuel prices, though she acknowledged that it cost her only $13 to fill her Honda Civic four years ago.

Wendy Ferrell of Federal Way, who commutes to Olympia and SeaTac for her job, adjusts her budget or combines trips.

“Driving is a vital part of life, unfortunately,” she said.

Scott Gadman of Rochester estimates that he spends about $125 a month on fuel, filling his Saturn’s tank every five days.

Gadman doesn’t expect to see $2-a-gallon gasoline prices again.

“Every time we’ve gone past (a new price) threshold, we’ve never gone back,” he said.

[Godiva]

"The average price of gasoline in San Diego on April 2nd last year was $2.77. Now, one gallon is up to $3.28, even though the price of a barrel of oil has dropped."

"Langley estimates the oil refinery profit margin is about 50 cents per gallon more now than it was in 2001. For a person who buys a tank of gas per week for a vehicle with a twenty gallon tank, this amounts to an extra $1,000 paid over the course of a year."

From Full Focus on KPBS.

In San Diego I expect gas to reach $4 a gallon at least once this year.

[naterprius]

$3.35 a gallon would be a price drop for many parts of California.

Nate

[sfprii]

$3.35?

We already hit that price point last month ....

Thank G-d for our New Prius.

[jgills240]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Apr 5 2007, 04:13 PM) [snapback]418423[/snapback]</div>

In San Diego I expect gas to reach $4 a gallon at least once this year.
[/b]

I expect most of the country to see $4 this year, and wouldn't be surprised to see SD over at $4.20 or so.

[Tideland Prius]

That's still a big discount compared to ours >.< It's $1.18/litre now or $3.86/gal

[brick]

Is it wrong that this doesn't bother me anymore? It has nothing to do with the Prius, at least I don't think...my last car was easy on the gas as well. I think I'm just being zombified by the games that the oil companies and traders have been playing for the last few years. I see the prices go up and I think "Oh, that's nowhere near as bad as I saw it last year! Wake me up when it hits $3.50"

Then again I can still fill my tank on a $20 and get change back...that's the smug kicking in. Just a little.

[hill]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius @ Apr 5 2007, 05:14 PM) [snapback]418425[/snapback]</div>

$3.35 a gallon would be a price drop for many parts of California.

Nate
[/b]

(sorry for the cheezy phone camera pic)
That's RIGHT
Here in the hoiety-toiety part of So. Cal, they figure we can afford it.

[Godiva]

So what is that? Self serve on the left and full service on the right?

[Zendriver]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Apr 5 2007, 09:57 PM) [snapback]418583[/snapback]</div>

So what is that? Self serve on the left and full service on the right?
[/b]

I didn't know they still had "Full Service". That takes me back...