Crisis in Egypt could increase already high gas prices

Examiner.com ^ | 1/31/2011 | Joe Alfieri

[JoeA]

While we watch from afar the turmoil rolling across the Mideast, first toppling the government in Tunisia and now playing out in the streets of Cairo, the effects on Americans are more immediate than the distance between here and Egypt would suggest. A quick trip to the local gas station underlines the strategic importance of the Middle East to the well being of the American economy. And with that economy mired in recession, a surge in gasoline prices is the wrong prescription for an already weak patient. The effect in states like California, where prices are moving toward four dollars a gallon, could be devastating to consumers. While Egypt has few reserves of oil, a great deal of the Middle East’s production ships through the Suez Canal. Two million barrels a day pass through the canal. A slowdown in transit through that waterway, or worse yet, a complete shutdown, could accelerate the slow but steady rise in gas prices over the last two years. In January of 2008, prices in California averaged $2.08 per gallon of regular unleaded. They currently stand at $3.34, according to a survey of local stations by CaliforniaGasPrices.com, an increase of 60 percent. Contra Costa County prices range from a $3.19 to $3.47 in Concord, with premium as high as $3.67 a gallon. A decrease in prices was expected as winter storms across the nation slowed down travel, lessening demand. The tension in the Middle East prevented prices from decreasing in the last week of the month.

[Nervous Tick]

Glad I filled the ol’ bottomless truck diesel tank yesterday.

[ArchAngel1983]

Not high enough for Obama. Doesn’t he want to see it climb to $8.00/ gal for the polar bears or some such nonsense?

[JoeA]

Give him some time. At sixty percent a year, but January 2013 we’ll be there.