Gasoline prices rise 20% in last month By Thomas Geyer, QUAD-CITY TIMES -- September 15, 2000

enlarge image It is the same old song, dance and tune, and it is unlikely to change in the near future.

Gasoline prices went up again this week, despite a promise by OPEC to increase crude oil production. In the last week, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline jumped another 3 percent in the Iowa Quad-Cities and just more than 2 percent in the Illinois Quad-Cities.

Since Aug. 10, the average price in the Quad-Cities has climbed 20 percent.

According to the Quad-City Times gasoline index, the price increased by 5 cents in the Iowa Quad-Cities to an average of $1.57 Thursday. A month ago, the cost was about $1.30.

The average price in Iowa was about $1.53 Thursday, up from $1.37 a month ago and $1.20 a year ago, according to daily figures issued by the Oil Price Information Agency, or OPIS, and AAA.

In the Illinois Quad-Cities, the average price Thursday climbed 4 cents in a week to $1.59. A month ago, the average price was about $1.32. Statewide, the average price was about $1.56, up from $1.36 a month ago and $1.30 a year ago, according to OPIS and AAA.

Nationally, the average price Thursday was about $1.57.

Total motor gasoline stocks continued to decline, falling by 3.7 million barrels from 195.5 million barrels to 191.8 million barrels during the period Sept. 1 through Sept. 8, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Total motor gasoline stocks at the primary storage level were 10.3 million barrels below the level for the same week last year.

Crude oil stocks dropped by 1 million barrels during the same period to 288.5 million barrels Sept. 8.

Geoff Sundstrom of AAA said that the price of crude oil and refined products are expected to continue to rise over the short-term both in the United States and overseas.

"Fuel industry analysts have completely discounted the effects of OPEC's promised increase in crude oil production as being too little, too late to effect U.S. retail petroleum prices this winter," he said.

OPEC ministers agreed Sept. 10 to increase production by 800,000 barrels per day. Mexico might add another 200,000 barrels a day by the end of the year. Some analysts speculate about the possibility of energy shortages should there be a colder than normal winter, he said.

St. Ambrose University economist Ted Woodruff said OPEC would only be hurting itself in such a situation since high crude prices potentially could spark a move toward the development and use of alternative forms of energy.

Crude oil for October delivery climbed 25 cents Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange to close at $34.07 per barrel. That was due to Tosco Corp. having to shut down its 166,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Wood River, Ill., for unplanned maintenance and tensions in the Persian Gulf after Kuwait accused Iraq of sending its aircraft close to their mutual border.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 16, 2000