www.canada.com Silas Polkinghorne The StarPhoenix Wednesday, February 05, 2003 CREDIT: Gord Waldner   Marlene Kreller pulled in at the Esso at 33rd Street and Avenue P just as prices jumped

Motorists didn't like what they saw as they pulled up to the gas pumps Tuesday.

Prices at Saskatoon service stations had shot up six cents -- from 75.9 cents per litre to 81.9 cents. The price hike took place in the late morning and early afternoon.

The increase made many consumers simply stay away. Business was down at several gas stations.

"It's slowed down quite a bit," said Megan Schnitzler, who works at Central Avenue Co-op Gas Bar.

Catherine Hay of M.J. Ervin and Associates Ltd. in Calgary, a gasoline price watchdog, said most Canadian cities have seen price increases of four to five cents per litre recently.

"Generally speaking, most markets are up."

She said the rising price is a delayed response to increases in United States oil prices.

"I think this is a bit of a catch-up," she said. "I think it was bound to come."

Hay said now that oil production has been restored in Venezuela, after a prolonged strike, prices may soon begin to fall.

She would not speculate on the impact of a possible United States invasion of Iraq on oil prices.

canadaeast.com As published on page A1/A2 on February 4, 2003

(THE DAILY GLEANER - STEPHEN MACGILLIVRAY PHOTO) A tank of gas is going to cost more today after a sharp jump in prices in the Fredericton region Monday. Many stations are now charging 82.9 cents per litre for self serve. RICHARD DUPLAIN The Daily Gleaner

The price of gasoline in the Fredericton area has increased again - in some cases by as much as five cents a litre. On Monday morning, the price of self-serve gas at most stations was 77.9 cents per litre. By afternoon, however, the same gas was selling for 82.9 at many places. "There's not much we can do about the prices," said Craig Stairs, who operates an engine machine shop on Clark Street. "There always seems to be a bit of a difference in the price of gasoline throughout the city." Stairs was filling up at the Irving Mainway on King Street in preparation for a trip to Maine where he will pick up some engine parts. "I'm going to fill up there," he said, suggesting the price of gas in the U.S. may be better. He said the different prices at gas stations around the city on Tuesday may be more of an indication that store owners are growing weary of the up-and-down. "They are probably tired of changing the signs," he said. "I expect the prices will continue to go up," said Leanne Price, who travels to work each day from Newmarket. She said she has been watching the gas prices going up and falling back but seemed resigned to the shifts. "I have no idea why," she said. "We have to pay no matter what the price and cursing about it doesn't do any good." Mike Ross was filling his tank at the PetroCan on Prospect Street. There, the price was 82.9 for regular, 86.9 for plus and 89.9 for super. "Prices are going up and down like everything else," he said. He added that even with gas regulation on Prince Edward Island the prices there last weekend were not much different or better than prices in New Brunswick. "They were cheaper on Friday but on Saturday the prices were similar to those in Moncton on Sunday," he said. "I don't know why the prices are fluctuating so much. I suppose the situations in Venezuela and Iraq add to the mess and it will be something we'll have to put up with." Gasoline prices took a dramatic jump Dec. 18 but remained stable for more than 10 days. On Dec. 31, prices skyrocketed to beyond the 80 cents a litre mark. Prices saw little fluctuation during January until the end of the month when the price of regular gas bottomed out at 77.9 cents a litre. The respite was short-lived, however, and Monday prices at some gas stations jumped by five cents. Gas stations in the area are now selling regular unleaded fuel anywhere from 77.9 cents a litre to 82.9 cents per litre. The cheapest price this morning could be found at the Wulastook Convenience Store at Kingsclear. It was selling regular gas at 75.9 cents a litre and 82.9 for its top-grade gasoline. At Canadian Tire on Prospect Street, consumers will pay 82.9 cents per litre for regular, 85.9 for mid-grade and 83.9 for high octane. At press time, Irving stations at the Fredericton bypass and the Mainway on King Street were selling their gasoline at different prices. Regular unleaded gasoline goes for at 82.9, 86.9 for plus, 90.9 for supreme and 82.9 for diesel at the bypass while the Mainway on King Street is selling regular gas for 77.9, 81.9 for plus, 85.9 for supreme and 79.9 for diesel. The Ultramar on Dundonald Street is selling regular gasoline at 77.9 cents per litre and 80.9 for plus and 83.9 for supreme. The By-Pass Esso Convenience and Postal Outlet on the Woodstock Road is selling regular gasoline at 82.9 cents per litre, 85.9 for extra and supreme goes for 87.9.

www.zwire.com By HANK SCHALLER , Of The Oakland Press 02/04/2003 February 4, 2003

Fears of a war with Iraq and a continuing strike in Venezuela that has cut oil production there have caused gas prices in Oakland County to soar by more than a dime a gallon in the past two weeks. Motorists in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties were paying nearly 4 cents more a gallon at the pump Monday than the national average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline, according to AAA Michigan.

"The possible war with Iraq and the Venezuelan strike are the biggest factors that we hear about," said Nancy Cain, spokeswoman for AAA Michigan, which does a weekly survey of gas prices throughout Michigan and in the Detroit area.

That view was shared by Ed Weglarz, executive director of the Lansing-based Service Station Dealers of Michigan, a lobbying group for independent service station owners.

"Venezuela and a possible war in Iraq are the two prime factors," Weglarz said Monday. "That strike in Venezuela represents about 10 percent of all the imported oil the United States gets.

"The oil market is almost like the stock market. It doesn't like uncertainty so when there is any doubt, the price of crude oil goes up."

The increasing wholesale price of gas paid by service station owners has led to a situation where the profit margins seldom rise above three cents or four cents a gallon and some dealers, because of local competition, have to sell gas at cost, Weglarz said.

"Wholesale prices are changing as much as three times a week, with the largest price increases in January coming on Jan. 8 when wholesale prices rose nine cents and Jan. 21 when wholesale prices rose 11 cents a gallon," he said.

A survey of 100 service stations in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties conducted Monday found the average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was $1.553 a gallon, up 7.5 cents over the past week and up 10.4 cents a gallon since Jan. 21.

Gas was selling for as little as $1.459 a gallon at some stations surveyed. Locally, the average price of gasoline is 33.1 cents a gallon higher than it was a year ago.

Meanwhile, a survey of 300 service stations throughout Michigan found the statewide average price of gasoline was $1.579 a gallon, up 4.4 cents over the past week and up 8.7 cents a gallon since Jan. 21. The statewide average price was up 41.4 cents a gallon from a year ago.

A nationwide survey of gas prices conducted by AAA Monday found that the nationwide average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was $1.504 a gallon, up 2.7 cents a gallon over the past month.

Pressure on gas prices could continue to build Wednesday when Secretary of State Colin Powell is expected to offer evidence to the U.N. Security Council in support of claims by the United States that Iraq possesses banned weapons.

On Feb. 14, Chief U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei will deliver a second progress report on weapon inspections, which could also help swing the diplomatic balance on military action against Iraq.

Although banks, shopping malls, factories and schools in Venezuela reopened Monday as a 64-day-old nationwide strike designed to topple President Hugo Chavez eased, a walkout continued in the oil industry.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have signed petitions demanding that Chavez resign.

Chavez said crude oil production in Venezuela is about 1.8 million barrels a day, down from 3 million barrels a day in November and as low as 150,000 barrels a day at the height of the strike. Striking workers say output is now slightly more than 1 million barrels a day.

Oil provides half of Venezuela's government income and over 70 percent of foreign exchange. The oil strike has cost more than $4 billion, the government estimates.

Gas prices up 10 cents Here's how the average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline has increased in the past two weeks in Oakland County:

• Jan. 21 - $1.449 a gallon
• Jan. 27 - $1.478
• Feb. 3 - $1.553

cbs.marketwatch.com By Myra P. Saefong, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 4:24 PM ET Feb. 4, 2003

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Oil futures climbed Tuesday, reflecting traders' renewed concern about prospects for war in the run-up to a United Nations presentation by Secretary of State Colin Powell that could reveal proof of Iraq's defiance to disarm.

Two other factors -- news that Venezuela's production continues to climb and warnings by OPEC that the market could be in for a supply glut in the second quarter -- kept a cap on crude's price rise, however.

Traders also looked toward Wednesday morning's update on U.S. oil supplies. With analysts expecting a fall in gasoline and distillate supplies, petroleum-product futures rallied nearly 5 percent.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the benchmark March crude contract closed at $33.58 a barrel, up 82 cents, or 2.5 percent. It fell more than 2 percent in Monday's action.

Meanwhile, gold futures prices soared above $379 an ounce to touch their highest level in more than six years, pulled higher by Tuesday's weakness in the U.S. dollar. See Metals Stocks.

"The approach of war with Iraq still remains a significant barrier to any real reversal in prices," analysts at Fimat USA told clients.

Powell's report to the U.N. on Wednesday "could have a unifying effect on the Security Council," said Grady Garrett, chief trading strategist at EnergyTrendAlert.com.

He pointed out that "a more unified front" regarding any military action against Iraq "will go a long way toward reliving some of the global uncertainty."

Venezuelan output rising

Still, "there are some fundamental factors that should start to weigh down on crude," said Garrett.

With Venezuela's two-month-old labor strike winding down, workers in all sectors except the oil industry having been returning to work.

President Hugo Chavez claims the Latin American country's oil production has now reached 1.8 million barrels per day, up from the strike's lows of around 150,000 barrels a day and representing more than half of the country's usual daily output of 3 million barrels. Striking oil workers claim output is at more like 1.2 million barrels per day.

Looking ahead, however, Venezuela is expected to add 200,000 more barrels per day in the coming weeks, the Associated Press reported.

Reports also surfaced Monday that OPEC would more likely consider a cut in the cartel's output in the second quarter, sparked by fears of oversupply as demand slows.

Oil products rally before supply data

Futures prices for petroleum products rallied along with crude Tuesday, climbing nearly 5 percent on expectations that the latest U.S. report will reveal a decline in supplies.

March unleaded gasoline jumped to close at $1.001 a gallon, up 4.38 cents, while March heating oil tacked on by 4.38 cents to 96.19 cents a gallon.

Updates from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Department on U.S. petroleum supplies are due Wednesday morning.

Motor gasoline likely declined by 1 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 31, according to estimates from IFR Pegasus senior analyst Tim Evans and analysts at Fimat USA. Evans, however, said the fall could be as high as 2 million barrels.

Distillates likely fell by 4 million to 6 million barrels, Evans said. Fimat sees a smaller decline of 3 million barrels.

Both generally expect crude supplies to be up for the week.

Evans expects crude supplies compared to the prior week will range between flat and an increase of as much as 2 million barrels. Fimat forecasts a 2 million-barrel rise.

Natural gas slips back

In other energy news, March natural gas closed lower by 0.4 cent at $5.762 per million British thermal units, selling off after rising as much as 11 cents earlier in the session.

Weather forecasts call for below-normal temperatures in much of the U.S. by the end of this week, but most analysts expect this week's update on U.S. supplies to reveal a fall smaller than what's been seen in recent weeks.

Fimat estimates that natural-gas inventories fell by 192 billion cubic feet. In the past two weeks, supplies fell by 219 billion and 247 billion cubic feet.

But Fimat's estimate for Thursday's report from the Energy Department is still well above the year-ago decline of 78 billion cubic feet, and the five-year average of 120 billion.

Over in the equities arena, most oil service stocks closed higher on the back of crude's climb. The Oil Service Index ($OSX: news, chart, profile) climbed 2.7 percent. See Energy Stocks.

The Reuters/CRB Index, a broad-based measure of the commodity futures market, closed at 248.2, up 0.3 percent on strength in crude and gold futures. Myra P. Saefong is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in San Francisco.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 02.03.03, 5:30 PM ET By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The price U.S. drivers pay for gasoline jumped 5.4 cents a gallon, the biggest weekly increase in 10 months, the Energy Department said on Monday. The price for regular unleaded gasoline averaged $1.527 a gallon -- up 37 cents from a year ago and the biggest increase since the last week of March 2002 -- based on a survey of service stations by the department's Energy Information Administration. Gasoline prices have surged with crude as the possibility of war with Iraq has ignited fears of Middle East supply disruptions and as a nationwide strike in Venezuela has sharply curtailed oil shipments from the No. 5 crude exporter. The price of crude accounts for about 40 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline. The national price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, which is sold at about one-third of the gas stations in more polluted metropolitan areas, increased 4.1 cents in the last week to $1.585 a gallon, EIA said. The West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline over the last week, with the average price in the region up 4 cents to $1.609 a gallon, EIA said. The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest fuel, even though the average price was up 5.8 cents to $1.472 a gallon. Among cities, San Francisco had the top spot in fuel costs, with the price up 3.7 cents to $1.802 a gallon. Denver had the cheapest gasoline, with the price up 3.2 cents to $1.461 a gallon. The report also showed gasoline prices were up 2.8 cents in Los Angeles at $1.629, up 2.8 cents in New York City at $1.579, up 4.8 cents in Chicago at $1.566 and up 6.7 cents in Houston at $1.473. The biggest year-on-year change in city pump prices was in San Francisco, where gasoline costs were up 56 cents a gallon from a year earlier. Separately, the nationwide price for diesel fuel increased 5 cents to $1.542 a gallon, up 40 cents from last year and the highest since December 2000. Truckers in central Atlantic states paid the most for diesel fuel at $1.66 a gallon, up 5 cents from the prior week. The Rocky Mountain states had the cheapest diesel at $1.50 a gallon, up 4.6 cents from the previous week.