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Gas Prices Hit Record High in Middle Georgia

Posted on: Thursday, 14 July 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jul. 14--Gas prices have marched to record highs in Middle Georgia.

Wednesday's average price of regular unleaded gasoline in Macon stood at $2.19 a gallon, setting a new record, according to AAA Auto Club South.

"Man, it's high," Gwen Montgomery of Crawford County said as she filled her sedan at a Raceway store on Eisenhower Parkway in Macon.

Although AAA does not track fuel prices in other midstate cities, prices have skyrocketed across Middle Georgia. At the Flash Foods at Corder Road and Watson Boulevard in Warner Robins, regular gas sold Wednesday for $2.13 a gallon, and at the Hop In convenience store in Dublin, the price was $2.18.

Ben Hinson, who owns Mid Georgia Ambulance, said he's become numb to fuel-price surge. He said he pays thousands of dollars each month for gasoline for his fleet of 30 vehicles.

"The ambulance industry is just getting hammered," he said. "It's just making it very tough."

Industry analysts project gasoline prices will maintain the current higher-than-normal levels through the summer. The price of gasoline began its most recent ascent after the Fourth of July.

"(It'll) probably stay elevated another six weeks ... and go down after Labor Day," said Jake Bournazian, an economist with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Analysts blame the latest spike in gasoline prices on increased crude oil costs, vacation travel and a tightening of the gasoline supply due to disruption of production because of the hurricane season. There are several oil refinery companies located near the Gulf of Mexico.

Randy Bly, a AAA spokesman, said population growth and consumer confidence also are contributing factors.

According to a AAA news release, the average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline has increased nearly 19 cents in Georgia from a month ago. Atlanta has the state's highest average price of $2.26. In Florida, the average increase from last month is about 16 cents and about 18 cents in Tennessee.

Bournazian said that during the month of June, crude oil rose $8 a barrel, resulting in a 20-cent increase per gallon nationally.

Consumption of crude oil, the basic raw material for producing gasoline, shot up nationally to 9.7 million barrels per day, from 9.4 million barrels before July 4.

"In the face of record-high demand, there's additional pressure to push up retail prices," Bournazian said.

High gasoline prices may be hurting the appeal of sport utility vehicles, Bly said.

In Macon, Kevin Franchi, general sales manager for Youmans Chevrolet, said the dealership has not seen a decline in SUV sales, largely because of General Motors' recent decision to extend its employee discount to customers.

Youmans Chevrolet has "traded some in for more fuel-economy cars," he said.

Another sign that the appeal of SUVs may be waning is in the number of online searches for them.

Internet searches for the top 10 new SUVs have dropped, according to Cars.com.

"Gas prices definitely have a lot to do with it," said spokesman Steve Nolan of Cars.com, which is partially owned by Knight Ridder.

Nolan said via an e-mail message that Web searches for Land Rover Freelander, Hummer H1, Cadillac Escalade and Audi A3 are down more than 65 percent since last month.

Even with record high gas prices, analysts say things could be worse.

When equating French and German gasoline prices to the U.S. dollar, Bly said those countries' residents pay close to $6 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. California and Hawaii residents already are paying more than $2.50 per gallon.

Despite drivers' fears about how far prices at the pump could climb, Bournazian doubts gas prices will hit the $3 mark.

"I don't see that as a likely outcome," he said.

Ricky Patel, an employee at a Hop In convenience store in Dublin, said customers frequently complain that the price of gasoline "is too high." He said he's seen a drop in store traffic since the recent gas price surge.

At the Flash Foods store on Russell Parkway in Warner Robins, clerk Loriel Sturn said she has heard the same sentiments, although sporadically.

Jeff Jackels, who stopped in Macon on Wednesday on his way from Ohio to Florida, said Macon's prices are the cheapest he's found so far. Even so, he's not happy.

Simply put, "it cost too much," he said.

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To see more of The Macon Telegraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.macon.com

Copyright (c) 2005, The Macon Telegraph, Ga.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

F, GM, NSU, VLKAF, VOWG, 7659,

Source: The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Ga.)

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