Complain about a product or service

Gas Prices Highest Ever, Supply Questionable

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 1, 2005
Gasoline prices in many U.S. cities have blown through the inflation-adjusted all-time highs set in 1981 and no relief seems near as oil traders continue to bid crude prices and gasoline futures higher. Sporadic shortages are being reported around the country.

• OPEC Unable to Stop Gas Prices' Slide • Give Thanks for Falling Gas Prices • Gas Prices Fall Below $2 a Gallon • Oil and Gas Supplies Rise • Gas Prices Accelerate Their Decline • Gasoline Prices Down 19 Cents in a Week • Charlotte Gas Stations Make Refunds to Consumers • Oil Snaps Back As Markets Sense Post-Election Bounce • Gas Prices Settle Still Lower for Weekend • Gasoline Prices Keep Falling • Gas Below $3 Nationwide • Average Gas Price Down to Nearly $3 a Gallon • Gas Prices Drop, Along With Oil • Gas Prices Head Lower as Economy Slows • Gas Price Declines for 9 Days • Gas Prices Continue Downward Trend • Oil Prices Surge By Record $25 a Barrel • Gas Prices Drop for 5 Days • Price-Gouging Probes Spread to 6 States • Investigations of $5 Gas in North Carolina, Florida, and Virginia • Shortages, Price Hikes Follow Ike in Southeast • States Investigate Gasoline Price Gouging Claims • Pumping More U.S. Oil Won't Lower Prices, Consumer Group Says • Oil Prices Fall, Gas Prices Surge • Gas Prices Slide 8 Percent from Record --- • More ...

The Bush administration's Wednesday announcement that it was releasing supply from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve slowed the price increase but only for a brief period of time in the afternoon.

Stemming the rise in gasoline prices depends on how quickly electricity can be restored to Gulf Coast pipelines and refineries. Flooding may disable some important refinery equipment for several weeks, extending the down time. The oil companies will need days just to assess the full cope of the damage.

Nevertheless, the gasoline pipelines that supply the Southeast are back online but operating at reduced capacity.

The oil industry is warning that the damage will take time to repair.

Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, which represents the major oil companies, said, "It is becoming increasingly evident that the impact of this devastating storm on oil and natural gas operations will be significant and protracted."

The consumer organization Public Citizen called on Congress to enact price controls.

"In the wake of skyrocketing gasoline and oil prices after Hurricane Katrina -- both as a result of speculation on Wall Street and product shortages -- President Bush and Congress should enact temporary, adjustable price controls to ensure that gasoline and home heating oil prices charged to consumers will be directly tied to costs, not speculation or price-gouging, Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook said.

In an effort to boost gasoline supplies throughout the Southeast, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Steve Johnson announced that he was relaxing Clean Air Act requirements for motor fuels in the states of Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. The relaxation would allow for the importation or manufacture of dirtier fuels through Sept. 15 in a bid ensure adequate fuel supplies in the Gulf Coast region.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top |