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Consumers Fear Gas Prices Will Continue To Rise

July 7, 2006

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More than half of Americans expect gas prices to increase between now and the fall, according to a recent poll by the Gallup organization.

The poll was taken before crude oil prices reached a record high earlier in the week.

One in four Americans believe gas prices will someday go down by 50 cents from current levels. Just a handful of consumers still hope prices will drop by a dollar, according to Gallup.

"Republicans are more optimistic than independents or Democrats about the current situation involving gasoline prices," according to the Gallup poll.

The poll was conducted June 26-29 from a nationally representative sample of 1,002 adults.

The gasoline price poll shows that 54 percent of consumers expect gasoline prices to increase and 28 percent think prices will remain about the same as now

Fifteen percent of the people questioned expect prices to "increase a lot," and 39 percent think they will "increase a little."

"Twenty-three percent of Americans believe the price of a gallon of gasoline will drop by 50 cents below today's price, while 76 percent do not expect this to happen," according to Gallup.

"Only 6 percent of Americans express optimism that the price of a gallon of gasoline will decrease by one dollar in the future; 93 percent do not think this will ever happen," according to the poll results.

People living in the East are slightly more negative in their belief that the price of a gallon of gasoline will ever drop by 50 cents than those living elsewhere.

Americans in higher-income households (those earning $75,000 or more per year) are slightly more optimistic than those in lower-income households that the price of gasoline will ever go down by 50 cents.

People in the middle-income category (earning between $35,000 and $75,000 per year) are more likely to say gas prices will go up over the next few months than those in lower- or higher-income households.

Republicans are more optimistic about the future of gas prices than are independents or Democrats. Fewer than half of Republicans, 41 percent, say the price of gasoline in their local areas will increase between now and the fall, compared with 58 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of independents.

Most Republicans, 58 percent, believe gas prices will either remain at their current level or go down.

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