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Consumers Steady as Gas Prices Linger Above $3

Hurricane Season Throws a Chill in Price-Watchers

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 1, 2007

• Gas Prices Fall for 37 Days • Gas Prices Slide 8 Percent from Record • Gas Prices Creep Down • Oil Price Trend May Be Good News For Consumers • Gasoline Drops Below $3.90 a Gallon • Gas Prices Pull Back Slowly • Oil Prices Fall As Storm Misses Rigs • Latest Gas Price Round-Up • 'Run Your Car On Water' Scheme Could Leave Consumers All Wet • Unregulated Energy Trading Blamed for Much of Gas Price Gusher • Airlines Join Effort To Limit Oil Speculators • Questions Raised about MyGallons.com • 'Hypermiling' Is Dangerous, Says AAA • Struggling Drivers Blame Washington for High Gas Prices • What’s Really Fueling Those Sky-High Oil Prices • Credit Card Fees at the Pump are a 'Hidden Tax' on Consumers • Survey: 3 Out of 4 Angry About High Gas Prices • $2 A Gallon Gas Possible, Analysts Tell Congress • Speculators Buy More Oil Contracts Than Oil Companies • Saudis to Pump More Oil • Limiting Oil Speculators Gains Ground • Congress To Probe Oil Price Spike • Oil Market 'Saturated,' Iran Claims • Feds See No Relief from High Gas Prices • High Gas Prices Could Mean Lower Insurance Rates • High Gas Prices Good For Kia, Honda • Gas Prices Rip Past $4 and Keep Climbing • Administration, OPEC See Different Causes Of Oil Surge • Feds Probing Possible Oil Market Manipulation • Beware of Fuel Sippers Sipping High-Test • Retailers Respond to High Gas Prices with Discounts, Promotions • Rushing Into a Smaller Car Too Soon May Not Save Money • Hybrid Sales and Prices Climb in Lockstep with Gas Prices • Truckers Bemoan Burden of High Diesel Costs • Gas Prices Biting into Worker Productivity • Consumers Warned About Gas-Saving Schemes • Is Tony Soprano Controlling Gas Prices? • Oil & Gas: The New Bubble • Critics: New Federal Gas Mileage Standard Falls Short • Consumers Feeling Pain of Skyrocketing Gas Prices • New Gas Price Record Forecasts Expensive Summer Driving Season --- • More ...

Consumers are upbeat and resilient despite record high gasoline prices, according to a University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment for May.

The survey found lower-income consumers complained that high gas prices had hurt the most but even among vulnerable consumers complaints were less frequent than last May when the price of gas was 34 cents lower, according to the survey.

Gas price increases have stopped but prices remain above $3 a gallon in every state except Mississippi, South Carolina and New Jersey.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is down a nickel at $3.18 from the record high price set just before the Memorial Day weekend of $3.23 a gallon.

Mid-grade gasoline is selling for a national average of $3.38 and premium sells for $3.50 a gallon.

Last month a gallon of regular gasoline cost $2.97 and last year $2.84.

The most expensive gallon of gasoline on sale in the country is found in the Windy City. A gallon of regular self-serve sells for an average of $3.95 in Chicago.

The cheapest regular gasoline is found in Bridgeton, New Jersey for $2.68.

Here is a look at some gasoline prices from around the country in the ConsumerAffaris.Com Gas Price Round Up.

California: California no longer has the nation’s highest average price for regular self-serve gasoline. Prices are higher in Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin,

The average price in California is $3.39. The average in Hawaii is now $3.41. The price leader is Illinois where the average has shot up to $3.48 and in Indiana the average hit $3.40. Michigan sits at $3.45 while the average in Wisconsin is $3.40

"Gasoline prices are 5-10 cents below record prices set in early May," says Carol Thorp, a spokeswoman for the Automobile Club of Southern California, referring to prices in the Golden State.

"Refinery production and gasoline inventories are up and that is putting downward pressure on pump prices, although it seems that prices go down much slower than they went up,” she said

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.38, which is 4.6 cents lower than last week and down by 8.5 cents in two weeks.

In San Diego, the average price is $3.37, which is 4.8 cents lower than last week and 9.1 cents lower than two weeks ago.

The highest average in the state again this week is in San Francisco at $3.57, down 2.1 cents since last Friday.

Texas: Retail gasoline prices are down slightly this week after 16 straight weeks of gains took prices to record heights, according to the AAA survey.

Regular-grade gasoline retailed for an average of $3.05 per gallon in 11 Texas cities, 3 cents less than last week's average.

"Despite the recent decreases, gas prices are almost a dollar higher today than what they were 16 weeks ago when prices averaged $2.072 a gallon," said AAA Texas spokeswoman Rose Rougeau. "Refinery production and gasoline inventories are up and that has helped to put downward pressure on pump prices. Consumers are still encouraged to conserve by paying attention to their driving behavior."

The survey found the state's highest prices were in Amarillo, where regular-grade averaged $3.25 per gallon after a 3-cent decrease. Corpus Christi had the lowest average price of $2.97 after a 3-cent decrease.

Michigan: Gasoline prices fell for the sixth-straight day to an average of $3.45 a gallon but with the hurricane season officially underway, concerns about future price hikes remain.

AAA Michigan said prices were at $3.53 a gallon on May 26. Michigan has had some of the highest prices in the country over the last several weeks, due primarily to refinery problems and the need to switch over from traditional winter, spring and fall blends of gasoline to a special cleaner-burning boutique fuel that Southeast Michigan residents must use throughout the summer.

A team of hurricane experts from Colorado State University are projecting that there is a 74 percent change of a major hurricane to make landfall in the United States this season. A major hurricane is defined as a storm with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or greater.

Two years ago, Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita battered the Louisiana, Alabama and Texas coastlines, knocking out refining and tanker operations for days. As a result, gasoline prices shot up across the nation.

The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline is just above $3.19 per gallon after reaching an all-time high of $3.23 per gallon on Friday as drivers prepared for the travel-filled weekend, according to AAA of Heathrow, Florida.

Mid-grade unleaded and premium unleaded gasoline prices is averaging $3.39 per gallon and premium unleaded averages $3.51 per gallon.

The decline is likely to be short-lived unless U.S. refineries take steps to increase gasoline stockpiles. Futures prices for gasoline are still increasing while international oil prices are declining.

Consumers say they feel the effect of high gasoline prices but they have not yet allowed prices to alter their driving habits.

Almost half of consumers responding to a recent poll reported gasoline prices were causing financial problems but compared with last year, fewer people reported they would drive less, cut expenses or shorten vacations because of high prices.

Drivers in Needles, California are paying the highest regular unleaded price in the country at $3.99 per gallon. Drivers in Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey are seeing the lowest prices in the country at $2.75 per gallon.

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