gasoline could hit $3 per gallon this summer

From the paper's paid section. The goofy typesetting errors are theirs, not mine. You can't pin this one on me! :lol:


Gas could hit $3 this summer
Pump prices keep rising across Oakland
By HANK SCHALLER Of The Oakland Press
Press wire services contributed to this report.


Analysts say gasoline prices may eventually hit $3 a gallon this summer.
Meanwhile, prices continued to creep up in Oakland County on Monday, rising by 2.8 cents a gallon over the past week. A AAA Michigan survey conducted Monday of 817 service stations in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties found the average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was $2.33 a gallon, up from $2.302 a gallon a week ago, up 14 cents a gallon over the past month and up 48.9 cents a gallon from year-ago levels.
Internet reports Monday indicated self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was selling for as low as $2.17 a gallon at the On The Go service station in Walled Lake and $2.19 a gallon at a Marathon service station in Wixom.
Gasoline was selling for as high as $2.44 a gallon at a BP service station in Wixom and $2.39 a gallon at BP service stations in Clarkston, Birmingham and Bloomfi eld Hills; two Mobil stations in Bloomfield Hills and a Mobil station in Birmingham; a Shell station in Bloomfi eld Hills; and a Sunoco station in Bloomfi eld Hills.
Among those expecting gas prices to continue to rise was Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Bill Ford.
“I’m fully aware the old days are over,†Ford said during the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center in Detroit. “One of the operating assumptions we have is oil is only going to get more dear, more expensive.â€
The prediction of higher prices at the pump was shared by others.
“People need that auto and won’t stop buying gasoline because of a price rise,†said Robert Ebel, chairman of the energy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “We can look forward to another tight summer.â€
The Bloomberg News Service reported that gasoline pump prices may return to $3 a gallon in the United States this summer as demand recovers and conservation efforts in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita prove temporary.
On Sunday, oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said nervousness among oil traders about headlines from three oil-producing countries — Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela — have increased upward pressures in the futures markets.
Iran has resumed its pursuit of nuclear energy in a move that the United States and other Western nations have interpreted as an attempt to build a nuclear weapon; the security situation in Nigeria has deteriorated; and Venezuela has tightened conditions for oil companies to do business in the country.
Prices have been further driven up by two recent government-mandated fuel reformulations and a requirement that corn-based ethanol be added to some gasoline, Lundberg said. Those steps make the process of refi ning gasoline more expensive, she said.

 

Well, the story is local in nature, not a national story. Here, we're paying around $2.27 per gallon. In a state where it sometimes appears as if most people drive full-sized pickups and large SUVs, that's pretty scary