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Gas prices continue to break records
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/051308_fpg-01.jpg) |
| Photo by TERRE PORTER |
| Not many motorists are thanking heaven these days as gas prices continue to set record high prices. The advertised pump prices at this 7-Eleven in Largo on Tuesday evening were less than the latest record of $3.689. |
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TAMPA BAY – Gas prices in Tampa Bay set new record highs three days in a row. As of May 13, the average price for a gallon of unleaded was $3.689.
The May 13 record was almost two cents higher than the record set on May 12 at $3.672, which was almost two cents higher than the May 11 record of $3.656.
Reality is that gas prices have gone up 3.3 cents since Sunday with no end in sight, according to the experts.
The AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report on May 13 showed the pump price for a gallon of unleaded was $3.689; mid-grade was $3.996; and premium $4.070.
Diesel fuel was also setting daily records. The price per gallon on May 13 was $4.338, up 2.5 cents from the day before. The price of diesel fuel has gone up just over 5 cents in the past three days.
Randy Bly, director of community relations at AAA Auto Club South said Sunday that gas prices would likely continue to increase all week.
“With oil prices already at record levels and news that the Euro strengthened again against the weakened U.S. Dollar simply adds fuel to the on-going crude oil rally –which for all practical purposes has been going on since the 4th Quarter of 2007, Bly said. “Recent news that militants in Nigeria stepped-up attacks on oil producing facilities and trader’s concerns of future disruption of crude oil supply are also placing upward pressure on crude oil prices. As we will likely see this week, gasoline prices have no other way to go but up.”
According to the federal Energy Information Administration’s This Week in Petroleum report, gas prices will continue to rise as refineries continue production of the more expensive-to-produce summer-grade gasoline.
The latest projections from the EIA show that the wholesale price for May will increase by 10 cents a gallon, inching closer to earlier predictions that gas prices could hit as much as $4 a gallon this summer.
May 1 marked the date when most areas of the United States require the use of summer-grade gasoline, the EIA said.
While the explanation of the differences between winter-grade and summer-grade gas is a bit complicated, the jest of it is that warm temperatures affect the evaporation of gasoline into the atmosphere, leading to increased health problems, more smog and increased levels of ozone.
The culprit is vapor pressure, and gasoline manufacturers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency walk a fine line trying to find the perfect mix that reduces the evaporation rate while still allowing for the more efficient operation of gasoline engines.
According to the EIA, the EPA first enforced vapor pressure regulations in 1989 with decreased vapor pressures allowed from May 1 to Sept. 15. The maximum allowable vapor pressure was lowered again in 1992. In 1995, the EPA introduced the reformulated gasoline program, which lowered the allowable levels of vapor pressure even more.
“Gasoline with lower vapor pressure is generally more expensive to produce,” the EIA said. “For example, one method refiners use to reduce vapor pressure is to reduce the volume of normal butane, a liquefied petroleum gas with high vapor pressure, that is blended into gasoline.”
Butane is a lower-cost component of gasoline. Removal of that component increases the production costs.
The national average price for a gallon of unleaded rose for the sixth week in a row, the EIA said. AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report shows the national average at $3.707 on May 11, which was a new record. The nationwide price for diesel fuel also set a record on May 11 of $4.330.
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Article published on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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