Gas Prices Jump

Gasoline prices jumped nearly 4 cents a gallon over the past three weeks, due to higher prices for crude oil and the cost to refiners of meeting new environmental regulations, a survey said.

The Lundberg Survey found the average price per gallon of self-serve regular gasoline was $1.66, a 3.6-cent increase since Jan. 23. Publisher Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that gas prices have been rising since late December as the price of oil has increased and a recovering U.S. economy has boosted demand.

In addition, refiners have been required since Jan. 1 to reduce the amount of sulfur in the gasoline they produce. And three states – New York, California and Connecticut – have required that the additive MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, be replaced with more expensive ethanol to reduce pollutants. The Environmental Protection Agency warned last fall that MTBE – deemed a potential human carcinogen at high doses – is present in groundwater.  

Lundberg predicted gas prices will continue their upward climb as demand for gasoline rises in the spring and summer. In addition, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced last week that it will cut production by 1 million barrels per day – about 4 percent – starting April 1. But oil ministers say that decision could be changed when OPEC meets March 31. The lowest prices in the survey of about 7,000 filling stations found drivers in Tulsa, Okla., paid the least -- an average $1.42 per gallon, Lundberg said. Drivers in Honolulu paid the most, with a gallon of self-serve regular costing them an average $1.99.

Source: CNN