For the immediate future, I think we will see prices pretty close to what we are seeing now. |
Gasoline is the classic commodity. It's very sensitive to world issues. |
I haven't seen a scenario quite like this in the 21 years I've been with AAA. This is certainly taking longer than we expected. |
I think gas at $3 a gallon and up is going to be the rule here, as we get into the Labor Day weekend. |
I think we bounced back rather remarkably. I think we're going to be even luckier this time around. |
In years past, we usually did not see much of a change in the pattern of people taking trips. But we're kind of in uncharted territory dealing with high crude oil prices and seeing gas over the $2 mark - this is all new. Overall, I think people will still take those vacations. But I think they will compensate by cutting back in other areas. |
It sounds crazy. But, if we stop and think about it, if we have a hurricane season like last year, who knows. It's a possibility. |
It's a combination of factors hitting all at once. |
It's all happening at the same time, and we certainly expected prices to increase somewhat but not to this extent. |
It's not a censure. It's enforcement for a legitimate purpose. |
Some refineries are temporarily off-line for annual spring maintenance and changing over from winter blends of fuel to summer blends to meet Environmental Protection Act requirements. But, although there is volatile market futures speculation, the strong domestic supply we now have should bring prices lower before Memorial Day weekend. |
The profit factor that oil companies have -- that figures into things, certainly. |
There's a lot going on, and none of it really looks good for gas at the retail level. For the foreseeable future, I think prices are going to stay above average. |
Things appear -- at least for the short term -- that the stage is set for gas prices to increase even more. |
This requirement, coupled with on-going strong demand and unrest in the Middle East, will keep the cost of gasoline over the $2 mark in the foreseeable future. |