Gasoline tops $2 a gallon
Tue Oct 19, 8:16 AM ET
By James R. Healey, USA TODAY
Gasoline prices again average more than $2 a gallon across the USA, the first time they've passed that line since early June, and are only pennies lower than last spring's records.
A gallon of unleaded regular averages $2.035, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported in its weekly price survey Monday. That's up 4.2 cents from last week, and 2.9 cents less than EIA's record $2.064 May 24. EIA last showed gas averaging more than $2 June 7.
Using sales data from 60,000 gas stations, the Oil Price Information Service and motorists' club AAA reported a nationwide average $2.005 Monday, up 0.8 of a cent over the weekend. The OPIS/AAA record is $2.054 set May 26.
Prices remain less than the $2.95 a gallon necessary to set an inflation-adjusted record.
Even so, pinched motorists apparently think prices are high enough that gas is worth stealing.
"The rate of gas thefts has doubled the last six weeks. We're losing $120 per store per week," says Bill Shipley, whose Shipley Energy of York, Pa., operates 26 Tom's stores/stations across central Pennsylvania.
He says he has to sell 1,500 gallons - 150 average fill-ups - to make up for losses when motorists drive off without paying. "A few years ago, this was so negligible, it wasn't worth tracking. It's a direct result of rising gas prices," Shipley says. "Like everybody, we want our customers happy, and they're not happy."
EIA says prices went up in every region the past week. Gas is costliest in California, averaging $2.402 a gallon, up 7.5 cents. The Gulf Coast is the bargain spot, averaging $1.913, up 2.8 cents.
"There's no price relief in sight," says Jason Schenker, economist at Wachovia, a banking and investment concern. "The first opportunity we have to see prices fall back is March."
If prices for crude oil, from which gasoline is made, stay high, and if continuing strong demand keeps inventories low, Schenker forcasts a nationwide average of $2.50 or more for gasoline next summer.
Prices of diesel fuel and the similar heating oil, also both made from oil, are zooming.
Diesel averages $2.18 a gallon, EIA reports, up 8.8 cents from last week, and up a hefty 67.8 cents from a year ago. That's a big hit for trucks and trains, which use diesel fuel to haul consumer and industrial goods. While diesel used to be a less expensive fuel, it now averages more than gasoline everywhere but California, where it is 0.8 of a cent cheaper, EIA says.
Heating oil, used for home heat by 8% of Americans, mainly in the Northeast, was $1.899 a gallon last week, the latest EIA data on that fuel. EIA forecasts that winter bills for oil-burning households will average 28% higher this winter than last.
About 56% of Americans heat with natural gas. Its prices are rising, too, though it's not made from oil, and EIA says homeowners will spend about 15% more on natural gas if it's a normal winter, more if colder.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $1.26, to $53.67 a barrel at the close of New York trading Monday. It broke $40 May 11, then pushed past $50 Oct. 1, when it closed at $50.12. It has traded for more than $50 since. Some traders and analysts said the drop means that oil prices have peaked. Others called it a breather before oil races toward $60.
Oil would have to pass $81.30 a barrel for an inflation-adjusted record.
Author
Topic: Fuel Mileage (Read 2695 times)