Area's gas prices highest on record
www.heraldnet.com Published: Friday, February 28, 2003 By Eric Fetters Herald Writer
The region's average price for gasoline rose to nearly $1.81 a gallon on Thursday, the highest recorded by AAA since the organization began tracking local prices in the late 1970s.
That Seattle-Bellevue-Everett average for regular unleaded fuel is 37 cents higher than just a month ago, and nearly 3 cents higher than Wednesday's average.
The statewide average for regular unleaded hit a record high of $1.76 on Thursday, according to AAA.
Chuck Lacy of Marysville said he is amazed at how fast the prices have risen since he last bought gas for his pickup several weeks ago.
"I think it was around the $1.40s-per-gallon the last time I filled up," he said.
In Everett, nearly all service stations were charging more than $1.70 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline on Thursday, with many prices creeping closer to $1.80. In Marysville, the Arco station on Fourth Street at I-5 looked like a relative bargain at $1.68 a gallon.
Find cheaper gas
Help us keep track of the area's lowest gas prices with this new HeraldNet feature: www.heraldnet.com/gasprices/ The price for premium unleaded is crossing the $2-a-gallon mark at more Snohomish and Island county stations as well.
Mark Nelson of Everett's Nelson Petroleum said he's not always able to quote a price for customers of his independent distributing business. That's because it's changing so fast.
"Our wholesale prices are going up much like what you see on the street," Nelson said. "We're not only seeing price changes daily, but sometimes also twice a day."
At this point, however, volume at his business hasn't been affected much.
"In a sense, it's a product everybody has to have," he said. "We have a lot of commercial customers, and they need to keep their fleets rolling."
But it's only a matter of time before the rapid rise in prices begins to ripple across the local economy. For example, some trucking companies are adding fuel surcharges to deliveries to cover their higher costs. Many airlines already have added a similar charge to their tickets.
Like many consumers, Lacy said he's suspicious of the reasons behind the higher prices at the pump.
"I think someone's making a killing off the prices," he said.
There's reason to be suspicious, many analysts agree. Pure speculation on the oil commodity market seems to be the biggest reason for a surge in crude oil prices, which in turn affects the retail price.
Uncertainty about what will happen in Iraq has caused much of the volatility in trading. That continued Thursday, as early panic buying sent oil futures soaring to a 12-year high of $39.99 a barrel, only to be replaced by panic selling. Crude oil ended the day at $37.20, down 50 cents.
The U.S. supply of oil is now at its lowest level since 1975, another reason for worry among commodity traders. The government and oil companies have blamed a strike in Venezuela and recent cold weather on the East Coast that has increased demand for heating oil.
But Tim Hamilton, executive director of the Automotive United Trades Organization, said the nation's supply could improve almost immediately if the federal government agreed to dip into emergency reserves or OPEC agreed to ratchet up production.
"We do have less oil, but it's a conscious decision on the part of the oil companies and oil-producing countries not to increase production," said Hamilton, whose Olympia-based group represents independent gas retailers.
How long will the prices keep going up?
"At some point in time, it will reach a peak," Nelson said. "Whether we're there yet, I don't know."
Hamilton said he would like to see prices go back down before they add any more to the economy's problems.
"The dealer's getting beat up, and the consumer's getting hammered," he said, "and our biggest fear is it could get much, much worse."
The Associated Press contributed to this story. Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.