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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chispas who wrote (35291)	8/12/2005 5:41:01 AM
From: Chispas	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116555

More outcries about $3.00-plus gasoline - . $3 GAS LOOMS By MARSHA KRANES August 12, 2005 -- Oil vey! The average retail price of regular unleaded gas in the city rocketed to a record $2.619 a gallon yesterday — with some stations edging toward an incredible $3 a gallon — as oil prices soared to an all-time high of $66 a barrel. The high-flying price of crude also led three major U.S. airlines to boost fares on most of their routes — with other airlines expected to follow suit. A survey of Manhattan service stations found regular unleaded gas selling for as high as $2.899 a gallon — with premium going for $3.11. "There's no end in sight," said Robert Sinclair, an AAA spokesman, who predicted local gasoline prices would rise another four to five cents in the next day or two — "if it hasn't already." "Usually there's a lag between the rise in the price of crude and an increase at the pumps," he said, "but now they're jacking up prices immediately because they figure it will be more expensive to replenish their inventory." So how to explain the ever-rising price of crude — and thus gas — at the pump and on the tarmac? "There's not an abundance of spare capacity — this is what's driving the market," explained Doug Leggate, a senior oil analyst at Citigroup. He added that spare capacity is not expected to reach a normal level "for at least three to four years." A series of refinery disruptions in the United States has also pushed up the price of crude — with several refineries reporting power outages. Sinclair noted that "China and India and their need for crude oil is responsible for the expanding demand. They're building car factories and SUV factories in China like crazy — for customers there." In addition, he said, "U.S. demand has grown more than 3 percent over the last year because of the SUV craze. Half the vehicles registered in the U.S. are SUVs and pickup trucks and they really burn gas." The average gas price nationwide hit a record high of $2.397 gallon, with California pumping the priciest regular unleaded gas, at an average of $2.698 a gallon. New Yorkers interested in checking prices at their local gas stations can look online at AAA's "fuel-price finder" or at NewYorkGasPrices.com. The airlines announcing fare hikes yesterday were United, Delta and Continental. * United is adding $2 to $5 to each leg of a trip, effective immediately. * Delta is upping each leg of a trip by $10 except in markets where it faces low-cost competition, where the increase will be $3 to $5 a leg, effective immediately. * Continental said it would match the Delta increases on some routes, but did not specify which and did not indicate when the hikes would take effect. ................................ Registration Required - nypost.com