Shortage pumps up gasoline prices Associated Press June 2, 2000 SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  Motoring in Missouri means digging deeper into pocketbooks for higher-priced gasoline  in some cases, overnight increases of more than a dime per gallon for unleaded regular. Thats a pretty heavy jump, Michael Right, spokesman for Missouri AAA, which monitors fuel price trends, said Thursday.

Increases in gasoline prices have been reported this week in the Ozarks, Kansas City and parts of central Missouri, said Anita Randolph, director of the Department of Natural Resources Energy Center.

Some of these spikes have been sizable and happened overnight, jumps of from 8 cents to 11 cents per gallon, Randolph said.

Retailers and analysts attributed the price increases to a months-long rise in crude oil prices finally being passed along to consumers in a lump that is more noticeable, plus low inventories of gasoline on hand and higher prices charged by wholesalers.

St. Louis and Kansas City prices for unleaded have been about $1.48 per gallon on average. The national average price per gallon for unleaded regular is $1.54. Randolph said her agency received reports Thursday of soaring gas prices in the Kansas City area.

http://digmo.org/news/local/premium/0602local1414.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), June 02, 2000

Answers

As a Springfield Missouri resident, the 8-11 cent increase is not a fair report, most stations were in the $1.41 to $1.43 price range for the 87 octane unleaded. Now, the price is $1.59 at most stations. That is a 16-18 cent increase. Overnight.

My wife made an early trip to a local station that next day to do a fillup since the Quick Trip had not received their fuel for the day and their price was still at the $1.43 level. At noon, their truck had arrived and their price was $1.59. While she was there, the lanes were packed and the Manager was concerned about their inventory level and their price.

-- Ron (rtoler@atlascomm.net), June 02, 2000.