LAKE COUNTY ? A relentless surge in the past month in the cost of crude oil pushed gasoline prices to an all-time high in the state this week.
Fuel costs were up an average of about 40 cents since last month, with unleaded regular fuel hitting highs of $3.69 in Lakeport Friday. A survey of gas stations in the city showed regular unleaded gas prices of $3.53 at Lakeport Express and USA Gas, $3.59 at Chevron and Valero and $3.67 at Rotten Robbies. Premium gas reached $3.81 at Valero.
Lakeport resident Kim Westbay watched the numbers spin faster than a roulette wheel as she filled up her tank at Rotten Robbies Friday. She said in the last year, she has cut back on driving and spending. “I”m combining trips to spend less on gas. When I make a trip to Clearlake to Wal-Mart, I”ll also go to Rays,” Westbay said.
DFM Car Stereo and Cellular Manager and Lakeport resident Kevin Brown filled his Jeep up with gas at the station. “It”s ridiculous to pay this much. The government should step in,” he said.
Once gas tops $4, he plans to start driving his four-cylinder Toyota, which gets better gas mileage.
At his job, he”s heard customers comment they are traveling to Santa Rosa less because of gas prices. “That”s one good thing that”s come from this. More people will shop locally,” Brown said.
The price of crude oil Friday topped $110 as compared to about $62 a year ago, according to the New York Mercantile Exchange, and the federal government is predicting the price of regular gas will top $4 per gallon by Memorial Day.
Why crude has gone up so much is not entirely clear. The plummeting value of the dollar is one reason, according to AAA spokesperson Cynthia Harris, and no matter what the state of the economy may be, summer-time gas blends always bump the price up.
“Last year on average, according to the oil industry, the average American driving a medium-sized vehicle was burning 578 gallons of gas?and gas was on average 40 cents cheaper. The consumer is going to spend over $230 dollars more this year for gas than they did last year. People are opting to drive less and are taking less trips, it”s definitely made an impact on the California driver,” Harris said.
San Francisco had the highest gas in Northern California Friday at $3.76 according to a report from AAA of Northern California, which tracks fuel costs as a service to consumers.
The statewide average cost for a gallon of regular gas this month is at a record high of $3.58, a 46-cent increase since AAA”s February gas report. The report is conducted monthly and data for Lake County was not available because AAA does not survey the county, although it tracks prices in neighboring counties.
The nationwide average price of regular gas is $3.23 this month, up 27 cents from last month”s average. The average statewide price in California is 35 cents per gallon higher than the national average.
The cheapest gas in the country is found in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where regular unleaded costs an average of $2.97. The highest average price in the nation is in Wailuku, Hawaii, on the island of Maui, where a gallon of regular unleaded costs $3.93. No state in the country now has an average below $3 for regular unleaded gas.
Anne Smith of Kelseyville filled up at Helms, a commercial gas station where she has an account. Regular gas there was $3.69.
In response to whether the government should address escalating oil prices she said, “The government should step in to fund alternative energy research to help us get away from our petroleum-based transportation system and economy.”
She said she has been consolidating her trips to cut back on gas consumption since the first gas crisis in the 1970s, when lines caused waits longer than an hour and people were assigned days they could pump gas depending on license plate numbers.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
