www.thenassauguardian.com

Those of us in the market for house paint will no doubt be gratified by the Trade & Industry's Minister's remarks in Parliament recently.

With his determination to prevent fuel suppliers from raising prices, we are certain he will hold the line on other consumables – such as the house paint manufactured by a company called Sunburst.

The Wall Street Journal notes that while high oil prices represent a potential windfall for major oil companies, they also make doing business more expensive and eventually undermine oil demand. And the Economist Magazine adds "the sluggish state of the world economy points to softer prices once the spectre of war is gone."

Oil prices behave much like any other commodity, with wide price swings in times of shortage or oversupply. The loss of oil from Venezuela and the prospective loss of Middle Eastern oil if war breaks out have caused prices to climb 50 per cent since December. But in the past half-century they have only exceeded $22 per barrel in response to war or conflict in the Middle East.

The United States imposed temporary price controls on domestically produced oil in an attempt to reduce the impact of the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo. The obvious result was that American consumers of crude oil paid 48 per cent more for imports than for domestic production.

But according to the Energy Economics Newsletter, if controls had not been tried, "The higher prices faced by consumers would have resulted in lower rates of consumption: automobiles would have had higher mileage sooner, homes and commercial buildings would have been better insulated and improvements in industrial energy efficiency would have been greater."

So the Trade & Industry Minister is just doing the usual politicking, trying to fool some of the people all of the time. Is he really going to restrict pump prices because, as he suggested, increases over the past 20-odd years should be enough for Esso, Shell and Texaco, and their hundreds of Bahamian employees and dealers?

We also wonder if he asked the owners of the individual gas stations and workers how much money or profit they see in a week or in a year?

We doubt it, but we nevertheless urge the abolition of all price controls. They are economically unrealistic, unworkable and undesirable. And perhaps if fuel prices were allowed to follow the market, we would have less traffic congestion on our roads!

Posted on Fri, Mar. 07, 2003

www.townonline.com By Erin Clossey / Staff Writer Friday, March 7, 2003

Tom Clarke has his favorite gas station, he's been going there a while. But during the past year, the Everett Avenue resident has been known to stray from his usual filling spot, searching out cheaper fuel for his Volkswagen Jetta.

"I have my eye out when I drive. I have my antenna up," he said.

Prices at the pump have become outrageous compared to only a few months ago. The average price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Watertown is $1.69 - with a high of $1.79 and a low of $1.63. Independent stations are able to charge less than name-brand dealers, but anywhere you go, you're going to pay more for gas than you're accustomed to.

"I try to conserve, I look for the best priced station, I do," Clarke said.

He's not the only one trying to conserve. At Toyota of Watertown, there has been a "flood" of interest in the Prius, Toyota's electric/gasoline hybrid model, said Craig Heinonen, sales manager.

People are still buying gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles, Heinonen said. But many are trading in their SUVs for more gas-efficient cars these days, and sales of the Prius have gone up about 50 percent in just months, he said. Heinonen admitted that a lot of that had to do with increasing awareness of hybrid vehicles in general, but he believes that soaring gas prices are a huge factor.

The Prius gets 52 miles to the gallon on the highway. The Sequoia, Toyota's largest SUV, gets about 17 highway miles to the gallon.

"When people see 52 miles to the gallon, right away, they're saying 'wow, look at this,'" he said.

There are three major factors contributing the price of gas today, said Mark Williams, professor of finance and economics at Boston University's School of Management and a former senior vice president of global risk management at Citizens Power Boston. A looming war in Iraq, political upheaval in Venezuela, the world's third-highest producer of crude oil, and general instability in many of the 10 countries that make up OPEC all have contributed to driving the cost of oil per barrel up by 60 percent in a few months, Williams said.

What this country considers a "reasonable" cost of oil is about $25 per barrel, which is where it was last fall, Williams said. Today, oil costs around $40 per barrel, and the futures on Wall Street aren't predicting a return to normal pricing until June 2004, he said.

This obviously means heartbreak for consumers (although Williams said the 60 percent increase in the cost of oil has only translated to an increase of 23 to 25 percent in gas prices at the pump. If the cost rose proportionately, we'd all be paying $2.50 per gallon). Williams said he was still surprised on a recent morning to put $25 of gas into his car, and instead of seeing the needle jump all the way to full as it normally does, hover around the three-quarter mark. He nonetheless was able to get away with only $1.85 per gallon for high-octane gas at an independent dealer.

"I felt pretty proud," he said.

As of early this week, the cheapest gas in town was at Belmont Street Auto, which sells gas under the generic label, XTRA. Owner/manager George Artin said he scouts out other filling stations in town and tries to under price them. His price of $1.63 per gallon was 2 cents cheaper than the next lowest price, offered by most of the other non-brand name stations and Getty and Hess stations.

About 80 percent of his customers are regulars, Artin estimated, but the gas is just a lure to get people into the heart of his business, the repair shop.

"Believe me, nobody makes money on gas," Artin said.

Stations who sell name-brand gasoline generally charge more for their product because factored into the cost are fees charged for the privilege of displaying the Mobil or Sunoco name. But octane to octane, gas is the same wherever it comes from, Williams said.

As owner/manager of S&P Shell on Orchard Street, Bill Kaufman said he is forced to charge higher prices for his gas ($1.79 per gallon) in part because of Shell Corp.'s pricing system, which has prompted a number of local dealers take Shell to federal court.

A completely Shell-owned and operated station in Waltham is able to charge just $1.65 per gallon, which Kaufman says is less than what he pays for the gas. But because he is an operator who leases the full-service gas and repair station, Kaufman has a lot of overhead he needs to worry about. Shell took away its rent incentives to dealers, and because Watertown only permits full-service gas stations, he must also pay someone to pump gas, he said.

Gas prices haven't mattered much yet to Ron Dilbarian. Because he is currently out of work, so does less traveling than he typically would, he said. But he still goes to the Sunoco station on Bigelow Avenue to fill up his Ford Taurus, regardless of what other stations are charging, because it's so convenient to his East End home.

"Nothing has changed," he said.

Erin Clossey can be reached at eclossey@cnc.com.

www.townonline.com By Bill Thibeault / In My Opinion . . . Thursday, March 6, 2003

I'm glad to see that the windy month of March has finally arrived ... especially since Spring officially arrives on March 20, so maybe things will soon warm up a bit around here.

The temperature actually got up to the low 40's last Saturday, which was warm enough for an army of smiling and waving local political sign holders to post themselves downtown in support of their particular candidates who are seeking your vote in the upcoming town election.

All the candidates seeking contested seats had their dutiful supporters out there ... Selectman Avril Elkort ... as well as challengers Sal Salvatori and Bob MacDonald. And while a large number of Assessor Rocco DiGirolamo supporters toted his signs, the green and white signs of challenger Paul Alfano also seemed to be all over the place.

Speaking of political signs ... not that it means anything, I conducted another mini-survey last week of political signs in the windows of downtown merchants, and while I found no signs for Selectman Elkort, I counted 10 signs for Salvatori and three for MacDonald ... and for Assessor, I counted seven DiGirolamo signs and six for Alfano.

It won't be long before candidate nights will be held in various sections of town providing an opportunity for you to go and listen to these candidates ... and hopefully these informative nights will help you reach an informed decision about who to vote for.

Most of us who buy gasoline for our gas-guzzling chariots have become painfully aware of skyrocketing gasoline prices, and it won't surprise you to learn the national average for a gallon of 87 octane unleaded regular is now $1.66.9 which is 54 cents more than what it was a year ago ... and if that isn't bad enough, another round of increases, estimated at 4 to 8 cents per gallon may soon be inflicted on us, ostensibly because of Bush's imminent Iraqi war and the big oil-worker strike down there in oil-rich Venezuela.

Out of curiosity, I did a survey last Saturday of all gas stations in town to find out what they're charging for a gallon of 87 octane regular unleaded, and found the lowest everyday price in Canton was $1.65.9 at the full-service Getty station on Washington Street, and I also found the same price at the full-service Mutual Gas station out there on Route138 next to Dan Road.

However, for the lowest special price in town, you'll only have to pay $1.61.9 on Mondays at the Texaco station on Washington Street next to the railroad crossing because on that day of the week they knock off 8 cents a gallon from their current regular daily price of $169.9.

If you want to find the lowest daily price in the entire local area you'll have to drive over to Stoughton. Both the Cumberland Farms Gulf station on Washington Street (Rte. 138), and the Mutual Gas station further up Washington Street near the center of town, are selling it at $1.62.9.

I wasn't surprised to find the highest prices for the same type gas in Canton was at the two stations on Neponset Street ... $1.74.9 at the Citgo station, and $1.73.9 at the Sunoco station next to I-95.

There are four stations up on Rte. 138 on the other side of Rte. 128 near Big Blue Hill and Royall Street ... but I surprisingly found the prices only ranged from $1.67.9 to $1.69.9, apparently due to all the competition at that location.

Incidentally, both the Mobil and Shell stations just over the line in Stoughton at Cobb's Corner charged $1.71.9 ... and both deduct 8 cents a gallon on Mondays, which means your cost on that day of the week is $1.63.9.

And while you're digesting all this information, let me add that I found four existing stations in town that no longer sell gas. Crowell's station at the intersection of Washington Street and Turnpike Street is now boarded up ... and the Sunoco station on Washington Street, and I hear the property is not only up for sale, the underground storage tanks will also be removed shortly.

The Getty station on Chapman Street at the intersection with Neponset Street hasn't sold any gas for about three years ... and then there's that old run-down self-service station eyesore out there on Neponset Street that has been boarded up for the last several years with a "For Lease" sign on it.

Finally, things are very sad over in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood ... long-time children's TV pioneer Fred Rogers died last week at age 74.

Former Canton Executive Secretary Bill Thibeault is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. You can e-mail him at OpinionColumn@WebTV.net

sanantonio.bizjournals.com 10:27 AM CST Friday 

Gasoline prices remained stable across most of the state last week either rising or falling by less than a penny, according to AAA's Weekend Gas Watch.

The statewide average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $1.587, a three-tenths of a cent decline from a week ago.

Gas prices dipped 0.8 cent in San Antonio, to $1.547 per gallon, the cheapest in the state. The Austin/San Marcos area saw a 0.4 cent decrease, to $1.557, while Corpus Christi gas prices increased by 0.1 cent, to $1.557.

Dallas, which continues to have the highest gas prices in the state, saw average prices inch up 0.1 cent, to $1.596 per gallon. The Fort Worth area saw prices dip 0.8 cent, to $1.584, and Houston prices remained unchanged at $1.588.

"Factors, such as the possibility of war in Iraq and the on-going petroleum strike in Venezuela, still exist but the price stability indicates that worldwide markets have adjusted to them," says AAA Texas spokeswoman Carol Thorp. "If international conditions remain the same, we would anticipate prices to remain close to their current levels in the coming week."

The AAA Texas survey tracks the average price of gas at popular car-trip destinations.

www.thetrucker.com

WASHINGTON -- Members of the truck stop and travel plaza industry said March 6 that they welcome any investigation into fuel price gouging but that no prior investigations have ever turned up "evidence of gouging or price-fixing."

The statement was in response to a letter sent by the American Trucking Associations to the attorneys general of all 50 states asking them to be alert to diesel price gouging in their respective states.

Natso, the organization of truck stop and travel plaza operators, said in a press release that attorneys general should "heed" the fact that "crude oil prices are hovering at two-year highs" and that a barrel of crude sells at $36, double what it was last year.

The Natso release also noted that winter weather this year "has been 30 percent colder than 2002" and that home heating oil and truck diesel come from the same source.

"We'll watch with bated breath for the trucking industry's mea culpa when the weather turns warmer and the war and political instability in Venezuela ends," the Natso statement concluded.

In his letter, ATA President and CEO Bill Graves warned of the impact the industry's "skyrocketing" fuel prices were having and asked the attorneys general "to be vigilant of potential diesel fuel price gouging .... This will be especially needed if and when there is a war with Iraq."

Graves said that the current fuel prices are bad enough without "opportunists making it worse."

-- The Trucker Staff March 7, 2003