Nevada gas prices buck national trend

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008 | 4:43 a.m.

Sun archives

Sept. 13 -- Ike may push gas prices close to $4
Sept. 2 -- Vegas gas prices steady as oil plummets

Beyond the Sun

AAA: Nevada gas prices

Gas prices have spiked nationwide, but they haven't budged in the valley.

The price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline today in the Las Vegas area is $3.624, which is down 19 cents from a month ago. The price has gone down a fraction of a penny in the past two days, according to auto club AAA.

On the national level, it's a different story. A gallon of regular gasoline rose nearly 17 cents from Friday to $3.854, AAA reported.

Gas prices in Nevada generally have stayed above the national average, but at $3.677 a gallon statewide, only nine states are paying less for gas than residents of the Silver State. Gas prices are off 65.5 cents from their record high of $4.279 three months ago in Las Vegas, although prices are down an average of only 26 cents nationwide from the all-time high seen this past summer.

AAA reported that 12 states have average prices today above the $4 mark. The highest average price outside of Alaska and Hawaii can be found in Michigan, at $4.186 a gallon, while New Jersey has the lowest, at $3.536.

Hurricane Ike missed the largest concentrations of oil and gas refineries in the Gulf, but at least 14 Texas refineries closed before the storm made landfall last week. Ike also destroyed at least a dozen production platforms and drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico — though only a tiny fraction of those there — and production is still shut down in the critical region.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By Gordon

9/16/08 at 7:13 a.m.

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Probably because none of our gas comes from gulf coast refineries. Our gas is pipelined from California refineries. The per barrel price of oil has also dropped $10 since Ike and gasoline wholesale prices dropped 17 cents since Ike.
By jfnance32

9/16/08 at 7:47 a.m.

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That is right....Gordon.

Duh!.......The Sun does not know that the gas market is divided west vs. east.

There is not a pipeline that runs over the Rookies. It would be cost prohibitive to build and would require lots of energy (money) to push tons of gas up the Rookie Mtns.

Just one final note, Las Vegas only has one gas pipeline coming from the refineries to here and it is getting old. If that gas pipeline breaksdown or gets destroyed then we are totally screwed. There is no way for them to ship enough gas for us to use via trucks.

Normally west coast market has higher gas prices for two reasons. California requires more environmental friendly fuels than the east cost and that cost more. The west coast refinery capacity during the summer is just barely above summer demand. That reduces our supply to the pumps and pushes the gas prices a little higher.
By Toby

9/16/08 at 10:27 a.m.

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Reporting from Knoxville, TN....last Friday thru Sunday regular peaked at $4.99. It is currently at $4.49
By neiman1

9/16/08 at 1:29 p.m.

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We need more American oil resources and refineries. Why doesn't Obama and Reid see how many good jobs with benefits would come from drilling, nuclear, refineries and the rest. Green jobs are fine, but we can have American jobs using American resources tomorrow if we could do all of the above. Tell Harry to quit playing election games and get our energy plan on the way to real energy independance NOW.

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Las Vegas
Lloyd D. George Building
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Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 702-388-5020 / Fax: 702-388-5030
By chickencalada

9/17/08 at 10:47 a.m.

Comment removed by staff.
By hermit

9/18/08 at 3:19 p.m.

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neiman, neiman, nemain.... The reason there have not been any refineries built is because the oil companies had no desire to build them. Takes lots of capital with a long and slow return.