| Gas prices force crude awakening on miami motorists Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8143508.htmhttp://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/8143508.htm
Posted on Tue, Mar. 09, 2004 Rising Gas Prices Force Crude Awakening on Miami-Area Motorists
By Brad Lehman, The Miami Herald Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 9 - Gasoline prices in Miami reached an all-time high Monday, and Fort Lauderdale service stations' prices lie just short of last March's record levels.
Regular gasoline now costs more than $1.76 a gallon in South Florida, according to the AAA. Some stations are charging more than $2 a gallon for premium.
But not at the Race Trac station at Hallandale Beach Boulevard and Interstate 95.
"We're out of regular," swing manager Keith Jeffries said. 'We lowered the price of 'plus' to the regular price" -- $1.71 a gallon.
Prices have been energized by the steadily rising cost of crude oil, strong demand and low inventories at U.S. refineries. Analysts expect those same factors to keep prices high during summer, the peak driving season.
"The main thing behind gas prices is the price of crude oil," said Ron Planting, an economist with the American Petroleum Institute.
"OPEC cut back on overproduction. On April 1, it will reduce the quota another million barrels a day." A 42-gallon barrel of crude oil sold for $36.57 on Thursday. In September, it was trading around $28.30.
The resulting rise in prices is angering some people. A few are even blaming President Bush, Jeffries said.
'Two or three times, people said, 'You voted for Bush, this is what you get,' " he said.
Jeffries says he can't help customers who become upset.
"I just smile and keep going. It's completely out of my control." South Florida isn't the only market plagued by high gas prices. The Energy Department said Monday that the average retail price nationally hit $1.74 a gallon, about a penny short of the record set in August.
Many factors determine how long high prices linger.
In March 2003, for example, Florida's service stations charged record prices when fear of the consequences of a war with Iraq reached its height. The following month, a gallon of gas sold for a dime less, and prices kept sliding as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries continued to pump oil above their quotas.
This time, protests in the major oil-exporting nation of Venezuela have added fear to a market already strained by tight supplies. OPEC has vowed to cut production still further -- but the cartel has often changed its mind.
"They're going to keep communicating with the market" to try to slowly bring prices down, said Frost Bank analyst Ted Harper.
Even with prices near records, Florida drivers have it relatively easy compared with those on the West Coast. In California, a gallon of regular gas sells for a whopping $2.18, the AAA reported.
The Golden State's environmental standards require a special formulation of gasoline that relatively few refineries produce.
"It's harder to get new supplies in California," Planting said.
"More than once, actually, they've brought in gasoline from a refinery in Finland." And historically, today's prices aren't close to the days of energy crises.
"If you adjust for inflation, the highest prices were $2.75 per gallon," Planting said.
That was in the early 1980s, after the Iranian revolution.
This report was supplemented with material from The Associated Press and The Dallas Morning News.
-----
To see more of The Miami Herald -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald.com.
© 2004, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
|
|