Summer's end caps climbing gas cost
Sunday, October 30, 2005 12:03 AM PDT
By Don Jenkins
Printable version
E-mail this articleGasoline prices in the Longview-Kelso area have dropped by more than 40 cents a gallon since peaking in early September, but fuel costs could rise again next month, and Gov. Christine Gregoire has again asked for an investigation into whether Hurricane Katrina was an excuse to raise prices and reap windfall profits.
The average price for regular unleaded at 27 Longview-Kelso gas stations was $2.48 a gallon Friday, down from $2.92 a gallon a little less than two months. Gas was below $2.40 at some discount stations.
Washington AAA spokeswoman Jennifer Harbison said the decline, seen statewide, has coincided with the end of the summer driving season.
"This is the time of year we would typically see a drop in prices," she said. "And we can expect them to go back up around the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas."
Also, supply lines effected by Hurricane Katrina are back on line, she said, and Hurricane Wilma, which battered Florida, did not cause the same disruption.
Although the Gulf Coast refineries and pipelines hit by Katrina do not supply the Pacific Northwest, the effects rippled to other parts of the country, she said.
Gregoire first asked for a federal probe into why petroleum prices soared in Washington after Katrina. She renewed her call for a price-gouging investigation Friday, a day after Exxon Mobil Corp. announced record-smashing earnings for July, August and September.
Royal Dutch Shell this past week announced that its third-quarter profits rose by 68 percent. Other companies have reported impressive earnings.
"It is clear from their earnings that oil companies are benefiting at consumers expense," Gregoire said. "I think everyone understands companies need to make money, but it's hard to understand record-breaking profits in the wake of a tragedy."
Chevron, more dependent on Gulf facilities, on Friday also reported increased third-quarter revenues, but said it lost $600 million because of damage Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused to its refineries in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi.
Gregoire said Washington must find ways to become less dependent on oil.
"We must diversify our energy supplies and stop relying so heavily on oil," she said in a press release. "Because of our vibrant agricultural, entrepreneurial and research bases, Washington state is uniquely positioned to lead in bio-fuels."
Longview-Kelso gas prices Friday were generally lower than prices reported in an AAA survey of stations in larger Washington cities. On Friday, the state average was $2.69 a gallon for regular unleaded.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., joined nine other senators this week in urging oil companies to contribute to programs to help low-income families and senior citizens pay home heating bills. She also called for an investigation into gas prices.
In attempting to answer critics, the American Petroleum Institute posted Friday on its Web site charts purportedly showing that oil companies' earning are in line with other industries and their profit margins are in many cases lower than other industries.
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