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Gas prices hit all-time record
Only certainty is that pump prices will go even higher, experts agree. Crude priced at a record $57 is beginning to work its way through the overtaxed system.
By MSN Money wire services
U.S. retail prices for regular gasoline hit a record average of $2.055 a gallon on Thursday, according to the daily survey performed by motorist club AAA. That's 33 cents higher than a year ago.
Pump prices have risen 16 cents in the last month alone, according to AAA's daily Fuel Gauge Report. When adjusted for inflation, the highest price for gasoline was over $3.00 a gallon in the spring of 1981, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The record fuel prices come on top of record crude prices, which haven't yet worked their way to the retail level. Crude oil futures crossed the $57 mark on Thursday, despite promises of more output by OPEC members, and talk of $80-a-barrel oil isn't the shocker it once was.
OPEC President Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah also said the additional barrels may not come until May, since members are already supplying more than planned.
"This is not about lowering prices. It's about stopping them skyrocketing," Yasser Elguindi of New York-based Medley Global Advisers said on the International Oil Daily Web site.
Rising gas prices -- full coverage on MSN  | |
Justin McNaull, a spokesman for AAA, says growing demand is partly to blame. He says the demand for crude oil both here and around the world is "getting pretty close" to equaling the capacity to produce it.
The government, in its March energy forecast, predicted gas prices would reach an average $2.15 a gallon this spring.
Bruce Evers, an analyst with Investec Securities, said traders are convinced the newly announced production "won't be enough and it's going to leave the supply side of the equation very stretched."
With capacity so tight and demand expected to increase later in the year when winter hits, an unforeseen supply disruption such as hurricanes or political upheaval could send prices even higher, he warned.
"Sixty (dollars a barrel) is a question of when, not if," said Evers.
In its latest report for the week ending March 11, the Energy Information Administration said gasoline stocks fell by almost three times more than expected, by 2.9 million barrels, to 221.4 million barrels, compared with consensus forecasts for a build of 800,000 barrels.
| See how prices in your state compare | | State | Regular | Mid | Premium | Diesel | State | Regular | Mid | Premium | Diesel | | Alaska | $2.08 | $2.20 | $2.33 | $2.14 | Montana | $2.11 | $2.20 | $2.31 | $2.43 | | Alabama | $1.99 | $2.13 | $2.19 | $2.16 | North Carolina | $2.02 | $2.14 | $2.24 | $2.17 | | Arkansas | $2.00 | $2.11 | $2.24 | $2.15 | North Dakota | $2.12 | $2.19 | $2.27 | $2.24 | | Arizona | $2.10 | $2.19 | $2.32 | $2.34 | Nebraska | $2.10 | $2.15 | $2.21 | $2.21 | | California | $2.33 | $2.48 | $2.52 | $2.51 | New Hampshire | $1.99 | $2.16 | $2.24 | $2.27 | | Colorado | $2.10 | $2.25 | $2.35 | $2.25 | New Jersey | $1.89 | $2.03 | $2.11 | $2.17 | | Connecticut | $2.08 | $2.26 | $2.32 | $2.39 | New Mexico | $2.08 | $2.22 | $2.31 | $2.24 | | District of Columbia | $2.10 | $2.24 | $2.30 | $2.32 | Nevada | $2.28 | $2.40 | $2.49 | $2.39 | | Delaware | $1.99 | $2.11 | $2.20 | $2.28 | New York | $2.13 | $2.28 | $2.33 | $2.41 | | Florida | $2.10 | $2.27 | $2.31 | $2.28 | Ohio | $2.06 | $2.19 | $2.28 | $2.21 | | Georgia | $1.97 | $2.12 | $2.22 | $2.13 | Oklahoma | $1.99 | $2.06 | $2.17 | $2.08 | | Hawaii | $2.44 | $2.58 | $2.63 | $2.72 | Oregon | $2.15 | $2.27 | $2.30 | $2.64 | | Iowa | $2.02 | $2.13 | $2.23 | $2.17 | Pennsylvania | $2.04 | $2.15 | $2.25 | $2.35 | | Idaho | $2.03 | $2.15 | $2.21 | $2.49 | Rhode Island | $2.04 | $2.17 | $2.24 | $2.33 | | Illinois | $2.09 | $2.25 | $2.32 | $2.29 | South Carolina | $1.94 | $2.07 | $2.17 | $2.10 | | Indiana | $2.05 | $2.21 | $2.27 | $2.18 | South Dakota | $2.09 | $2.22 | $2.31 | $2.20 | | Kansas | $2.07 | $2.13 | $2.21 | $2.20 | Tennessee | $1.99 | $2.11 | $2.21 | $2.14 | | Kentucky | $2.01 | $2.15 | $2.25 | $2.10 | Texas | $1.96 | $2.08 | $2.15 | $2.13 | | Louisiana | $1.99 | $2.12 | $2.22 | $2.14 | Utah | $2.00 | $2.11 | $2.20 | $2.34 | | Massachusetts | $2.00 | $2.15 | $2.23 | $2.31 | Virginia | $1.97 | $2.07 | $2.15 | $2.16 | | Maryland | $2.04 | $2.17 | $2.23 | $2.27 | Vermont | $2.04 | $2.19 | $2.29 | $2.38 | | Maine | $2.07 | $2.24 | $2.30 | $2.31 | Washington | $2.15 | $2.23 | $2.34 | $2.71 | | Michigan | $2.09 | $2.21 | $2.30 | $2.21 | Wisconsin | $2.12 | $2.20 | $2.30 | $2.26 | | Minnesota | $2.02 | $2.10 | $2.15 | $2.19 | West Virginia | $2.07 | $2.16 | $2.27 | $2.27 | | Missouri | $2.00 | $2.09 | $2.21 | $2.09 | Wyoming | $2.00 | $2.08 | $2.22 | $2.23 | | Mississippi | $1.99 | $2.10 | $2.19 | $2.12 | U.S. avg. | $2.06 | $2.18 | $2.26 | $2.24 |
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Source: Mar. 17, AAA Fuel Gauge, daily survey of gasoline stations
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