Posted on 02/24/2011 5:24:41 PM PST by JoeA
With oil surging to $120 a barrel in London as the Libyan revolt rocked markets, gasoline prices in the San Francisco Bay Area jumped to $3.99 for premium at several stations in the area. Unleaded soared to $3.79, an increase of $.29 in just one week. The prices marked a new high for the month of February, and are the highest February price since the federal government began keeping track of the numbers in 1990.
The hostilities in Libya spurred the surge in prices, and the announcement that Saudi Arabia would make up any shortfall in Mideast production as result of the fighting in Libya helped ease tense commodities markets toward the end of the day. Libya produces approximately 1.6 million barrels per day of crude, and according to Italian oil company ENI 75 percent of that has been lost due to the fighting in the North African country. Rumors that Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi had been shot helped stem the tide of rising oil prices.
In Washington, the Obama administration tried to downplay the events, suggesting that the rise in gas prices will not stall an economic recovery. Many economists disagree, and project prices at the pump could soon reach $5 per gallon, just in time for the summer driving season. "We have all the wrong things working together at the right time” says the Peter Beutel, president of energy consultants Cameron Hanover, “a lower dollar, strong seasonal demand and unrest in the heart of oil production." Darin Newsom, a senior analyst at energy tracker DTN (an energy monitoring company), says: "If this thing escalates and there's a good chance that there'd be a shift in supplies, $5 gas isn't out of the question."
If the events in Libya presage additional Mideast unrest, world oil supplies could be disrupted, and price fluctuations could mirror those of the 1970s, when an OPEC embargo led to massive shortages across the United States, long lines at the pumps, and a severe economic downturn.
California, an economy heavily dependent on driving, could be especially hard hit. The state consistently has among the highest prices in the nation, and the highest state tax on gas provides a great deal of revenue to Sacramento’s income. Any economic downturn resulting in fewer revenues paid to state coffers in Sacramento would only worsen the state’s already severe fiscal crisis.
Let 'em weep.
Darn, I go into SF once a week,........to dump my trash.
CA don’t need that steenkeen cheap gas; that’s why they don’t let anyone drill on their coast.
Yes, well you see there’s enough gas coming out of Sacramento...
I live in Vacaville, and it’s almost that high on Travis AFB.
Like someone here said....”If you like the price of gas....Thank a DEMOCRAT!” (I saw $3.60 - regular gas in Portland OR today)
Baraq will have to issue “gas stamps” to his supporters so they can afford to drive to the unemployment office.
No, we did not all vote for Hussein here. Sheesh!
Isn’t Travis exempt from state gas tax?
Great... means more little Smart(ass) cars on 280 soon. Someone pass me the flyswatter.
One word: Steamroller.
;)
Just blow at them, they’ll roll over.
CA: San Gabriel Valley Station May Have Highest Gas Prices In US (regular unleaded at $4.51
No thanks.
Or off their coast.
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.
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paid 3.47 today, saw it up to 3.69 local stations and its only headed higher.. a Dem Energy Legacy thingy
Not so. We are where we are because the Feral Government wont let us drill, won't let us build refineries, won't let us build nukes, won't let us convert coal to oil, etc. The market is rigged and the government is corrupt.
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