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Gas Prices Going Up…

Like many people, Sharece Carter saw the recent spike in local gas prices and thought the worst.

“Oh Lord,” Clark said while buying gas at a Shell station on MacArthur Drive Wednesday. “Please don’t let that happen again.”

“That” was last year’s explosion in fuel prices. A year ago at this time, the average price of regular unleaded in Louisiana was more than $3.50 a gallon. It would go over $4 in mid-July

Though prices have jumped recently — as high as 20 cents per gallon in a day at some local providers — it does not appear the industry is headed for the near-calamitous costs it went to a year ago.

“Prices have gone up,” said Don Redman, a spokesman with AAA. “But no one’s anticipating anything close to $4 a gallon.”

“Personally, I don’t think we’ll see anything like that,” said Frank Grimes with Fuel Plus, which operates nine Chevron stations in Central Louisiana. “I hope not.”

Prices in Louisiana have climbed fairly steadily in 2009, from $1.70 at the start of the year to a $1.99 average Wednesday, according to AAA’s daily fuel report.

Those prices are expected to go up throughout the summer, for several reasons.

Despite U.S. crude oil stockpiles recently reaching a 19-year high, the price of oil has gone up. Crude closed at $56.34 a barrel Wednesday, its highest close since mid-November, signs that the demand for energy may be going up as the global recession slows and a sharp cutback in oil and gas production starts to have an effect.

“The thought among many investors is the cuts in production were finally going to have an impact,” Redman said. “We’re starting to see that.”

Also, summer often sees a hike in gas prices as more people hit the road for vacation and recreation.

Several providers in the Alexandria-Pineville area went over $2 a gallon this week. Prices went down a bit Wednesday — there were still some station as high as $2.09, but many were in the $1.84-1.86 range.

It won’t be the last spike in fuel prices in the coming months. The question is, how much will gas go up?

The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts the national per gallon cost of regular unleaded for this summer’s driving season (April-Sept.) will be $2.23. That’s approximately 12 cents higher than the national average Wednesday, but nearly $1.60 cheaper than what it was over the same time period last year.

Locally, Grimes said the highest he sees gas getting this summer is $2.59 a gallon, after going to nearly $4 last summer.

“I can see that at peak summer time,” Grimes said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it got to that. I don’t think we’ll see anything more than that.”

The EIA predicts the average national gas price in 2009 will be $2.16. In 2010, when crude is expected to jump to about $63 a barrel, the EIA foresees a jump to $2.42 a gallon. Louisiana has been about 7-12 cents cheaper per gallon than the national average in 2009.

While that’s more expensive than people would like to see after paying well under $2 earlier this year, it’s not a return to the $4-and-up days of the not so distant past.

“I’d be happy if it was a dollar,” Carter said with a laugh. “Two dollars or less would be nice. I don’t like paying more than that.”

“Certainly, there’s a concern when you see a spike in gas prices,” Redman said. “It would be a shame in these bleak economic times to see high fuel costs.”

(the town talk)

Related Links:

Gas prices starting to go up Aiken Standard

Drivers surprised by jump in gas prices WHAS