Fearing hike, some valley residents rush to the pumps

Ed Koch And David Kihara

Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 | 11:17 a.m.

"Horrible," said retired senior citizen Barbara Fitzpatrick of Las Vegas, noting today's gasoline prices have made it impossible for her to hop into her Jeep Cherokee and drive to California to visit her children and grandchildren.

"Ridiculous," said local Joe Rivela, noting if pump prices climb any higher -- and he believes they undoubtedly will -- "I'll leave my car at home and ride my bike to work."

Lots of folks today have a word for gasoline prices that are closing in on $2.70 per gallon for unleaded fuel -- and not one of them is a good word.

News out of Washington, D.C., today that retail gasoline prices are poised to jump to new highs this week as Hurricane Katrina barrels through the heart of U.S. oil production and refining operations in the Gulf of Mexico caused some Southern Nevadans to rush to the pumps this morning and fill their tanks.

"I told my children and everyone else to fill up today because prices are going to jump after that hurricane hits," said Sharon Charters as she filled the tank of her Jeep Wrangler at the Chevron Station at Windmill and Pecos roads, where unleaded fuel was a fraction under $2.62 -- lower than many places.

"Everytime a disaster happens, they raise the prices the next day."

That undoubtedly was on the minds of gasoline investors as crude oil futures went briefly above $70 a barrel for the first time since oil began trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in 1983.

The average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Las Vegas today was $2.67, according to AAA. One month ago, the average price was $2.49 per gallon.

Spot checks locally found some stations selling unleaded at a fraction under $2.70, including the Circle K at Eastern Avenue and Russell Road and the Citgo 7-Eleven at Eastern and Sunset Road.

Unleaded is the grade of fuel that is used to determine market trends, though the cost for all grades of fuel are on the rise.

The statewide average for a price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline today was $2.71, an increase of 20 cents from a month ago, AAA said. The national average for a price of unleaded gasoline is $2.60, according to AAA. One month ago, the national average was $2.28, AAA reported.

Hawaii had the highest price per gallon of unleaded today at $2.89 while South Carolina had the lowest price at $2.45, AAA said.

"Gasoline prices will probably be $3 in two months," said Everett Palmer as he filled his Toyta Tundra, which gets about 22 miles per gallon, for his trip back to Tucson this morning at the Chevron at Warm Springs Road and Eastern Avenue. There, unleaded was selling for just under $2.66 a gallon.

"You have to work and you have to use your vehicle -- what can we really do about it?" he said. "I certainly don't like it, but that's the way it is."

Peter Krueger, state executive for the Nevada Petroleum Marketers, said oil and gas production and refining shutting down in the Gulf will cause the price of gas to rise a few cents but not to $3.

He said the increase likely will be temporary and motorists should see the price per gallon of gas drop back down to between $2.60 to $2.70 per gallon -- the prices we have become accustomed to -- by Labor Day.

"As the speculators cause the gas price to increase, we will see a couple of cents increase," Krueger said. "But I don't see any major disruptions. I don't see gas rising to $3 a gallon."

As long as the hurricane does no long-term damage residents in Nevada probably won't see any long-lasting price jumps at the pump, Krueger said.

Denton Cinquegrana, West Coast markets editor for the Oil Price Information Service, agrees that the result of the hurricane shutting down about 50 refineries along the Gulf of Mexico from Mobile, Ala., to Corpus Christi, Texas, will be at least a short-term spike in pump prices.

"People aren't driving less," he said. "Demand for gas remains a constant though the production has decreased."