Gasoline prices in valley hit $3 mark

Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 | 11 a.m.

Prices for regular gasoline at scattered locations throughout the Las Vegas Valley were at or near a record $3-per-gallon level Thursday, a ripple effect from Hurricane Katrina.

A lobbyist who represents petroleum marketers predicted that Nevadans might even see $3.50 per gallon by the middle of next week.

But Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast, is not expected to drive up gasoline prices in Las Vegas as quickly as in other areas of the country that are dependent on Gulf refineries for their gasoline.

The reason, according to lobbyist Peter Krueger of the Nevada Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, is that Southern Nevada gets its gasoline from California refineries through a pipeline that begins in Colton, Calif. The California refineries get most of their crude oil from Alaska.

"We get no crude oil or refined product from the Gulf Coast," Krueger said.

Michael Geeser, a spokesman for AAA Nevada, agreed.

"Some stations have been going up 50 cents a gallon per day back East, but we just don't see that happening here," Geeser said. "We're insulated from Katrina more than they are back East. We're playing on a different field."

As of Thursday morning, average regular gasoline prices in the valley were $2.71 a gallon, Geeser said. But Web site VegasGasPrices.com reported that by Thursday afternoon one station, the Pilot Travel Center truck stop at 3812 E. Craig Road in North Las Vegas, reached $3.09 for a gallon of regular unleaded, and that nine other stations were in the $2.99-$3.01 range.

A Pilot Travel Center employee, who declined to be identified, said customers were "pretty calm" about the gasoline price. She declined further comment.

Las Vegas typically has had among the nation's highest gasoline prices because of Nevada's high gasoline taxes coupled with a reduction in the number of California refineries in recent years.

With Katrina, states that rely on Gulf Coast refineries are now experiencing steeper gasoline hikes because some of those refineries and fuel pipelines suddenly went off-line.

Krueger said the reason Katrina is impacting Nevada is that gasoline wholesalers in this state still have to compete with wholesalers in other parts of the country to grab excess gasoline off the spot market. As Gulf supplies become tighter, wholesalers back East are driving up spot prices to make up for their shortages, Krueger said.

"What's driving up our prices is the competition in the spot market," he said. "If we don't get relief in the spot market, we could reach $3.50 a gallon in Nevada by Tuesday or Wednesday."

He urged consumers against attempting to top off their gas tanks every two to three days because that could create "spot outages" of gasoline supplies in Nevada.

"So conserve when you can," Krueger said.

The surge in prices prompted Attorney General Brian Sandoval to warn Nevada consumers against possible price gouging schemes, watching for abrupt jumps in prices. Nevada does not have any laws against price gouging, but is prepared to pass complaints to the Federal Trade Commission, Sandoval said in a written statement.

"Hurricane Katrina may have hit the southeast portion of our country, but we are feeling the effects across the nation," he said in the statement. "We are asking all citizens to be aware of these effects, especially with gas prices, and to be good citizens in reporting and acting on any suspicion of wrong-doing."