Gas prices surge past $3.40 a gallon, expected to rise

[marmar]

from AP, via Yahoo!:



By JOHN WILEN, AP Business Writer
1 hour, 18 minutes ago



NEW YORK - Retail gas prices pushed past a record high $3.40 a gallon Thursday, fulfilling expectations that they'll keep climbing toward $4 as the summer driving season approaches.

Oil prices, meanwhile, fell slightly after setting yet another record high overnight. Analysts said investors were locking in gains from crude's ongoing rally.

At the pump, the average national price of a gallon of unleaded gas rose 1.9 cents overnight to $3.418 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel fuel also hit a new record of $4.146 a gallon after jumping 1.7 cents overnight, the survey said.

The soaring cost of both fuels is pressuring consumers, who gas up their cars and buy goods that grow more expensive because of rising transportation costs. And their plight will only worsen; many analysts expect average national gas prices to peak close to $4 a gallon later in the spring. Prices are already that high in some parts of the country, including California.

With gas reaching another milestone, analysts are questioning whether consumers, who have already curtailed their driving over the past month, will cut back further in response to rising prices. They point to the trends seen last year in California; when prices soared past $3.40 a gallon in the state last November, demand plummeted by 3.7 percent.

Some analysts see California's experience as a sign that a plunge in national demand could also occur. Still, when summer arrives, demand will rise regardless of how high prices have soared.

"July and August will be very busy," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. "If you've got a vacation planned to Disney World or something, you're still going to take the vacation." ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080417/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

[Taxmyth]

1. don't buy investment vehicles that profit from a rise in oil

and watch how fast it comes down.

[DJ13]

2. $3.40 a gallon here in Ca would be a discount

It was $3.69 reg, $3.89 mid, and $4.09 prem this morning.

[TomInTib]

3. $3.99 -$4.39 here (S. Marin)

I volunteered to fill a friend's tank last weekend.

First time I had used a gas pump in years.

I almost fainted.

[Xithras]

6. I paid 3.89 in Modesto this morning.

Ow.

[bigdarryl]

4. but but we are more interested in what Obama said about bitter people

[TheFarseer]

5. and the best solution John McCain can offer

is to suspend the gas tax for the summer???????????????? What's the difference between paying $3.40 and paying $3.22? Both prices suck. Why couldn't we take the stimulus package money and use it to build public transportation? People get jobs building it and people save gas and money riding it. But I'm just some dumb schnook from Nebraska. I'm not a smart Washington insider.

btw - I haven't seen much from the Dems on this issue except raising CAFE (which doesn't appear to have worked but I applaud them for anyway).

[ThomWV]

7. Let's do everything we can to continue to flame those expectations

Cow's getting milked and begging to be milked some more. There is no fundamental reason for the price of oil to be even half of what it is now - this bubble is being driven purly by speculation and expectation, it has nothing at all do do with supply and demand. Look anywhere you want in this world and you will not find a shortage of oil. If economics teaches us anything it is that shortage - a supply that is less than the demand- is the only thing that will drive price up. Show me a shortage somewhere, anywhere.

[blonndee]

8. I almost cried this morning on the way to work. $3.57.