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To: SirRealist who wrote (46678)	3/27/2002 7:29:00 AM
From: kendall harmon	Respond to of 208838

Gas prices rising, a reason to worry about the quality of the recovery Front page here today Drivers suffering gas-pump sticker shock Wednesday, March 27, 2002 BY BOB LANG Of The Post and Courier Staff Here we go again. Reminiscent of dramatic price hikes a year ago, gas prices are shooting up across the country. In the Charleston metropolitan area, the average price of a gallon of self-serve unleaded gasoline is up 19 cents from a month ago, according to the American Automobile Association. The average price of a gallon locally, $1.22, is short of the $1.29 price that Lowcountry motorists paid this time last year, but the speed with which prices are climbing is giving drivers sticker shock. "I normally don't pay much attention to gas prices, but when I had to shell out $49 this morning for a fill-up I noticed," said North Charleston resident Matt Bernstein, who drives a 1974 Pontiac Grandville with a 35-gallon gas tank. "I paid $1.49 a gallon today for premium, and that's too high." Carol Daley, cashier at the Gas Mart on College Park Road in Ladson, said customers are puzzled by the rising prices. "They're wondering why it's gone up. They don't understand why it's happening," she said. One reason it's happening is because the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil exporters, including No. 2 world exporter Russia, have cut back production, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Economists and petroleum industryofficials say other factors driving up prices include the strengthening economy and increased demand. "Six months after the terrorist attacks, the nation's economy is gaining stability and the public is feeling better about travel," said David E. Parsons, president and chief executive of AAA Carolinas. Parsons said that after the events of Sept. 11, gas prices dropped dramatically because gasoline inventories rose significantly. People curtailed their travel plans out of fear of another terrorist attack. Airlines cut 23 percent of their flights while refineries and suppliers continued regular production levels, he said. Brad Proctor, president of GasPriceWatch.com, a consumer advocacy site, said oil companies see this spring as an opportunity to increase their profits after a sluggish winter. "The industry over the last few months has worked very hard to get the price back up," Proctor told CBS.MarketWatch.com. The national pump price has increased 20 cents a gallon, to $1.34, in the last three weeks, according to AAA. A recent Lundberg Survey of 8,000 U.S. gas stations recorded the biggest two-week jump in the survey's 50-year history. How high will prices go? No one can say for sure. However, Parsons said motorists should expect prices to remain high until the _fall. On the bright side, a gallon of gas locally is still a long way off from the all-time high of $1.55 a gallon, recorded last May 8, according to the AAA. And South Carolina's average of $1.23 ranks as the third lowest price in the nation, behind Georgia and New Jersey, both at $1.22. North Carolina's average is $1.30. charleston.net