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Gas Prices Push Towards New Record, Texans Suffer

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 13, 2007
Rising gasoline prices have already reached summer peak-driving levels and are likely to push the price of a gallon of regular above $3 throughout much of the country as demand continues to build with the approach of summer.

The 61 cent price rise since February is the quickest increase since 2000. While it's not unusual for gasoline prices to rise in the spring as refiners shift over to the summer grade of gasoline, the 2007 increases are unusual and they come at a time when refiner profit margins are the fattest they have been since Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005.

Nationally, drivers are paying an average of $2.82 a gallon for regular unleaded, according to AAA, of Heathrow, Florida.

One month ago, regular gasoline sold for $2.54 and one year ago a gallon of regular cost $2.72. Midgrade gasoline now averages $2.99 a gallon and premium gasoline sells for an average of $3.10 a gallon. Diesel fuel averages $2.92 a gallon.

Drivers in Needles, California pay the most for a gallon of regular at $3.79. People in Gaffney, South Carolina get the biggest break at he plump with a gallon of regular costing $2.19.

Here is a look at some gasoline prices from around the country in the weekly ConsumerAffairs.com Gas Price Round Up.

California: Southern California gas price averages stabilized in the last week, remaining within a penny of levels they reached last week and about 15 cents shy of the record high prices achieved last May, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.26, which is one-tenth of one cent higher than last week, 20 cents higher than last month, and 37 cents higher than last year.

In San Diego, the price is $3.30, which is four-tenths of a cent above last week's price, 22 cents above last month, and 39 cents above last year.

On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.38, up 1 cent from last week, 19 cents above last month, and 39 cents higher than last year.

In the Inland Empire, the average price is $3.29, three-tenths of a cent above last week, 22 cents higher than last month, and 37 cents higher than last year.

"Wholesale gasoline prices in California started going down more than two weeks ago, and that decrease may have finally started trickling down to affect gas station prices," said Auto Club spokesperson Carol Thorp. "Oil industry analysts say that's because more refineries in the state now are increasing their output."

Texas: Retail gasoline prices in the Lone Star state have climbed for 10 straight weeks.

Pump prices for regular gasoline in 11 Texas markets rose an average of 11 cents to $2.71 per gallon, according to the AAA Texas weekly gasoline price survey.

In Brownsville the price of gasoline is even higher then the state average. Overnight the price rose 12 cents a gallon to $2.79 there.

"According to the U.S. Department of Energy, gasoline inventories have been weak for several weeks and demand continues to be up," said AAA Texas spokeswoman Rose Rougeau. "If both indicators remain, prices will more likely continue to go up as well."

The AAA survey showed the state's most expensive gas is in El Paso, where regular averaged $2.77 per gallon, a 10 cent increase from last week.

San Antonio and Corpus Christi both have the cheapest gas this week, with regular averaging $2.62 per gallon. That is up 13 cents in Corpus Christi and 12 cents in San Antonio from last week.

"The increase was so huge," Rougeau said. "The increases from last week to this week were double-digit increases. We've had increases for the last 10 weeks."

Florida: Gas prices are continuing their march toward $3, with the average hitting $2.86 in the state.

Southwest Florida prices already are beyond that.

A gallon of the regular stuff will set you back an average of $2.88 in the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice market, AAA reported. It was an average of $2.90 in markets to the south.

That's up 30 cents from a month ago and up about 12 cents from this time in 2006.

Refineries have struggled to keep up in recent weeks as production problems persist, while the typical slack in demand between the winter heating season and summer driving months has yet to materialize in the Sunshine State.

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