Experts: $4 a gallon gas coming soon

Money Magazine - CNN ^ | August 31, 2005 | Grace Wong

[ContemptofCourt]

Pricing analysts say consumers can expect even higher prices at the pump.

August 31, 2005: 11:18 AM EDT

By Grace Wong, CNN/Money staff writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon but whether they stay there depends on the long-term damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina, oil and gas analysts said Wednesday.

"There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?"

OPIS tracks wholesale and retail oil prices and provides pricing information for AAA's daily reports on fuel prices.

Brockwell said with gasoline prices now exceeding $3 a gallon before even reaching the wholesale level, it "doesn't take a genius" to expect retail prices to hit $4 a gallon soon.

"Consumers haven't seen the worst of it yet," Brockwell said.

[ContemptofCourt]

Hear that screeching sound? That's the economy....

And we haven't even hit winter yet. Heating bils are going to suck this year.

[MichaelP]

GD profiteering!

Mike

[newgeezer]

ping

[Bombardier]

Move on....nothing to see, no gouging here. /sarc

[Icthus]

I work for a municipality in the FL panhandle and was notified this morning that our next fuel purchase would cost us $3.37/gal. and that we should expect a 30-45 day delay before our next delivery.

[The Foolkiller]

pinging all cars.

[Protagoras]

GD profiteering!

What does GD stand for?

And who are the profiteers?

[InterceptPoint]

This is not all bad news. The good news is that Barbra Streisand will be able to get into Yosemite a lot easier than when gas was cheap.

[kellynla]

millions of Americans in the Gulf are homeless and hundreds of thousands of Americans are fighting and some are dying in Iraq & Afghanistan and all many FReepers are concerned about are their heating bills and gas prices...
shezzzzzz... what a sacrifice!

[Terabitten]

Makes you wonder what it's gonna take to get the gov't to a) drop the taxes and b)get refineries built.

[Protagoras]

Move on....nothing to see, no gouging here. /sarc

Name the gougers please.

[carlr]

Greenspan,did you hear.Enough of the interest rate hikes.

[frogjerk]

[Texas_Jarhead]

"$4 a gallon gas coming soon..."

Yea, well at least we haven't been drilling in ANWR for the last decade, destroying its pristine beauty.

[bella1]

Gas is $3.50 in my town

[auto power]

.....there goes our raises....start pinching pennies folks.

[Alberta's Child]

I don't think the price of gasoline could be sustained at $4 per gallon. In fact, $3 per gallon is when I would change my driving habits dramatically.

Up to now, I've steadfastly refused to fill up for anything more than $2.59 per gallon.

[Gabz]

And we haven't even hit winter yet. Heating bils are going to suck this year.

Tell me about it - I called yesterday for a delivery of fuel oil. She quoted me $2.4435.......but offered no guarantee that it would still be that when it gets delivered today.

[Alien Gunfighter]

Gonna cost who? I'll ride my bike to work.

Leftist weenies don't realize that it's more than just cars. Freight shipping and tractor trailers that deliver patchouli oil and Michael Moore DVDs also run on gasoline. Prices are going to go up everywhere.

[Clemenza]

Another reason why those folks who commute more than 25 miles to work are insane.

[TXBSAFH]

I saw this bumpersticker thsi morning, it said "Like $3 a gallon gas thank a enviromentalist."

[flashbunny]

gouging?

Do you know where the refineries are located?

Do you think gas would be going down now? Even staying the same?

[R. Scott]

Today gasoline here just hit over $3.00 a gallon.

[COBOL2Java]

The invisible hand at work?

[flashbunny]

All boutique reformulations need to be ended NOW!

If this set of circumstances can't get congress to face reality, I don't know what can.

[EagleUSA]

And there is NO NEED FOR IT. I sure wish I could conduct this type of business and get away with it. I would be out of business, because my competitors would eat my lunch.

Ah, the magic word for the oil companies -- COMPETITION! They have none and they delibately keep it that way. If the Congress was not bought-and-paid-for by the oil companies, they would and should be screaming for more refining capability. But they must be careful -- adequate supply of refining capacity could create competition, and competition could really impact those big campaign contributions....

[TXBSAFH]

BP Amococ
Exxonmobile
Conoco
Citco
Shell

[FightThePower!]

Makes you wonder what it's gonna take to get the gov't to a) drop the taxes and b)get refineries built.

We don't even need to build new refineries. We could just unmothball some of the old ones. Could Bush do this by executive order?

[Doctor Stochastic]

Probably by next weekend.

[BikerNYC]

What does GD stand for?

God damned...

And who are the profiteers?

Those entities that are in the business of selling gasoline to other entities or people.

[Protagoras]

BP Amococ
Exxonmobile
Conoco
Citco
Shell
LMAO

[2banana]

Hmmmm...seems like the oil industry "shrugged"

[Disambiguator]

What does GD stand for?

Gol' durn!

[Captain Kirk]

Were are the folks on FR who confidently predicted in 2003 that after the war there would be so much oil that the Iraqi reconstruction would not only "pay for itself" but finance the costs of the war? The law of unintended consequences strikes again.

[Terabitten]

We don't even need to build new refineries. We could just unmothball some of the old ones. Could Bush do this by executive order?

I don't see why not. At minimum, he could exempt them from the environmental legislation.

[dakine]

Yep! Bring it on!

[Icthus]

Back in the early 90's I worked for an environmental engineering firm representing a few majors in the petroleum industry. At that time they (PI) were buying up every alternate technology and shelving it. Until the well runs dry, we're stuck with what they're giving us.

[Gabz]

Gas this morning was $2.67...yesterday morning it was $2.43.

[COEXERJ145]

The oil companies will continue to raise the price and blame the hurricane as long as they can get away with it. We could unload 50 tankers tomorrow full of refined gasoline and the price would jump .25 cents. This is no longer about supply and demand but about taking advantage of a situation.

This is the opinion of a person I know who has worked in the oil industry for decades. Even he now thinks the oil companies are using the hurricane to "extort" money.

[MikeA]

Wishful thinking by CNN. A bit overly hysterical I'd say. Oil prices are below 70 a barrel again today.

[Eva]

BP predicted four dollar a gallon gas when they took over ARCO. They said that they thought that the US should pay the same price for gas that is paid in Europe.

[TXBSAFH]

Gas commodities prices are up 18.5 cents right now from yesterdays close.

[dakine]

"Another reason why those folks who commute more than 25 miles to work are insane."

Insane? Anyone who does not think/live like you is insane?

[moehoward]

Indeed they are.

They are always angry and in big rush to shave 30 seconds off their commute time by speeding through the small time I live in. I truly enjoy driving the speed limit and watching them scream like giant red-faced newborns in my rear-view mirror.

[Paul L. Hepperla]

Profits = bad?

[COBOL2Java]

We don't even need to build new refineries. We could just unmothball some of the old ones. Could Bush do this by executive order?

Clinton was pretty handy with the Executive pen. I don't see why Bush should shy away from it...

[Sam the Sham]

Were are the folks on FR who confidently predicted in 2003 that after the war there would be so much oil that the Iraqi reconstruction would not only "pay for itself" but finance the costs of the war? The law of unintended consequences strikes again.

Not to mention the folks who wanted to send evangelical missionaries there and turn Iraq into Alabama.

[dfwgator]

It's not so much the gas prices I dread, it will be the long gas lines.

[jude24]

The damned oil companies, who are posting record profits and buying back their stock.

They're the profiteers. Time for a Windfall profits tax.

[Alberta's Child]

Leftist weenies don't realize that it's more than just cars.

Excellent point. Only about 45% of the oil we use in the U.S. is refined into gasoline. The other 55% is used for a whole host of other products, including diesel fuel, aviation fuel, petrochemicals, lubricants, etc.