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Detroit hits $2.40, month after setting national low. (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070226/METRO05/702260364/1148/AUTO01)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Gas_prices_-_2_41.jpg Mark Hicks and Catherine Jun - Detroit News - Feb. 26, 2007

DETROIT -- Drivers in the Motor City, who enjoyed the lowest gas prices in the nation just a month ago, are shelling out more to fuel up as prices soar nationwide.

The average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Detroit on Sunday was $2.40 compared to $1.95 a month earlier, according to AAA Michigan's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The city boasted the nation's lowest price, $1.90, on Jan. 21.

Gas prices soared nearly 13 cents a gallon on average nationwide in the past two weeks as the price of crude oil rose, industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday.

Lindsay Pearson of Detroit winced at the rising gas prices Sunday as she filled her Eagle Vision sedan with less than three gallons, just enough to last a couple of days."

"I noticed it was going up, and I was thinking, 'What's going on now?' the Wayne State University student as she pumped $7 worth of gas at the Marathon station on Trumbull and Fort streets, where unleaded cost $2.45 a gallon.

The national average for self-serve regular was $2.35 per gallon -- up 12.8 cents since Feb. 9, according to Lundberg's latest survey of 7,000 gas stations across the country.

The average for midgrade was $2.46 per gallon, and premium was $2.56, according to the survey.

Oil prices reached a new high for the year Friday. Light, sweet crude for April delivery added 19 cents to settle on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $61.14.

Pearson, 24, said at these prices, she wished she hadn't wrecked her Ford Focus months back, a smaller car with a much smaller tank.

"This can eat up gas, so it's a bit of a strain," she said, pointing to her sedan.
In February 2006, the Metro Detroit average was $2.27.

The recent spike is tied not only to national crude oil prices, but also to the weather, said AAA Michigan spokeswoman Nancy Cain.

Motorists typically can expect to spend more for gas this time of year, she said, as the harshest winter weather wanes and roads are busier.

Prices will continue rising in March.

"It's supply and demand," Cain said. "In January, there wasn't much going but it's starting to pick up."

According to DetroitGasPrices.com, which tracks area gas costs, the lowest price reported in Metro Detroit late Sunday was at a Costco station in Commerce Township, where a gallon of regular self-serve gasoline cost $2.25.

The highest totals were $2.59 at a BP station in Ann Arbor and $2.49 at another BP station at Halsted and Grand River in Farmington Hills.

This is the law of supply and demand at work. As one friend says, "it's all good".

The silver lining here is, the increasing prices will likely get more people interested in improving their fuel economy. They will conserve or buy gas sippers, etc. It's a reminder that low prices are not here to stay - just in case anybody thought that $2.00 or $1.50 / gallon gas was on its way back.

There will be some seesaw in prices always. Prices go up, people will economize and buy some gas sippers. This response causes consumption to go down, which forces prices a bit lower than they would be otherwise. As soon as the new lower prices cause a re-increase in consumption, the price starts to go up again. Fact of life.

I think the big changes inthe equation are 1) new technology to allow higher fuel economy and 2) education so the market knows what's possible. You might accept 20 mpg as reasonable if you thought that was as good as it could get. Now we know that even 120 mpg is not out of range.

Hi Bruce:

___The item is that $2.50 is not slowing down the gas guzzlers anymore. Some but nothing like the $3.00 per did in 2005 and 2006. Maybe that is a good thing for Ford, GM, DCX and Toyota to keep selling there biggest profit making pigs but it is not helping the larger problem of gasoline consumption and emissions. We really do need to see $5.00 + per gallon before some in this country actually get it. Even then there will be holds outs :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi Bruce:

___The item is that $2.50 is not slowing down the gas guzzlers anymore.... We really do need to see $5.00 + per gallon before some in this country actually get it. Even then there will be holds outs :( ...

Yes, I have to agree. What a shame too, that so many of us in this country just don't get it. We should be on the cutting edge but too many of us are not.

$2.20 a gallon does not keep people from running over me at 80 while "only" going 65 on a Saturday afternoon.

Gas prices for supreme have hit $3.00 again in Los Angeles. It won't be long for all grades to get there. All the talk about hybrids sales declining in the press will probably stop at that point.

Jeff

How much was gasoline at this time last year?

Nevermind. I found the following on Wikipedia. It looks like January '07 was actually higher than January '06 but we have dipped below the Feb '06 levels. It still looks like we are on track for a similar Summer though.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Gas_Prices_Short_Term.png

Hi Antrey:

___As shown in the article, nationwide averages are above $2.40 now which is quite a bit ahead of the February average of last year. I have no idea where it will head or be in 3 to 6 months but $2.40 already means $3.00 is not that far away. I have no doubt that Californian’s and those living in Hawaii will see $3.00 for 87 unleaded shortly.

___Good Luck

___Wayne