Fresno, Calif., Sees Days of Record Gas Prices

Aug. 20–Fresno-area gasoline prices broke records every day since Monday this week, reaching a new high Friday of $2.79 a gallon.

The average cost of a gallon of unleaded in the Fresno area rose 22 cents in the last month and 72 cents since this time last year, according to AAA of Northern California.

Gas cost an average of $2.80 a gallon in the Visalia, Tulare and Porterville areas.

Diesel also skyrocketed to an average $3.23 a gallon Friday in the Fresno area.

Some gas stations in San Francisco are selling unleaded gas at $3 a gallon or more, said Cynthia Harris, AAA of Northern California spokeswoman.

The high cost of crude oil, from which gasoline is made, problems at refineries that diminish supply, and energy traders’ concerns about political issues in oil-producing regions are all driving prices at the pump upward, she said.

But are prices high enough to change how people drive?

Sixty-six percent of people surveyed in May said they would change their driving habits if prices reached $2.40 a gallon or higher, according to a nationwide study conducted by the Progressive Group of Insurance Companies.

More than half said they would drive less often, 24 percent said they would drive shorter distances and 23 percent said they would cut down on driving to see family and friends.

Joyce White of Fresno said she is not taking any unnecessary trips in her Ford Escort, which costs about $20 to fill up.

“If somebody asks me if I’ll go to the movies, I ask if they’re driving,” she said. “I stopped eating out.”

High prices may have caused gasoline sales to drop statewide, according to the California Energy Commission.

Sales dropped a half of one percent in the first four months of 2005, compared with the same time period in 2004, despite California’s population growing by 539,000.

“Until now, we’ve only had anecdotal evidence that high gas prices are influencing the behavior of California drivers,” said Claudia Chandler, assistant executive director of the commission in a news release last week. “These numbers may indicate that Californians are using less fuel than they did a year ago.”

Will prices continue to climb?

“That is the million-dollar question,” Harris said. “Oil analysts from the beginning of the year have said prices are going to be very volatile for the rest of the year.”

Prices are high enough to change the way people shop for new cars, according to a study by Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research and Harris Interactive.

About 46 percent of people polled last month said gas prices have changed their minds or made them think strongly about vehicles they would not normally have considered when buying a new car, such as fuel-efficient vehicles. That is up from 38 percent in April 2004.

“We’re probably not going to see any dip in prices or return to ‘normal,’” said Kelley Blue Book senior market analyst Mark Brueggeman. “People are realizing that that’s today’s reality.”

Gas prices inspired Cass Centell of Fresno to buy a Ford Ranger pickup.

“I have a Chevy Silverado, but I had to buy a junker,” said Centell, who needs a truck for his job in construction. “It costs too much to get around.”

But for some, it doesn’t matter how high prices get; they won’t or can’t change.

A small number of people need trucks or SUVs to pull boats or travel trailers, said Robyn Eckard, Kelley Blue Book’s director of media relations.

“People who can afford all those toys can generally afford those gas prices,” she said.

And some just can’t change, such as Tony Hernandez of Clovis. He co-owns a home-inspection business that keeps him driving his Chevrolet Silverado from Chowchilla to Avenal. The $65 fill-ups hurt but can’t be avoided, he said.

“There’s no way to cut down,” he said. “I’ve tried to, but I can’t.”

The good news is that gas prices typically fall after Labor Day as demand drops and fewer people take driving vacations. But even that isn’t guaranteed, AAA’s Harris said. “No one knows for sure whether that will happen.”

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