Monday, April 9, 2007

Crash Alert Sirens Are Sounding!

You'll read it here before your local newsreader laments it later this summer on the "Live, Local Know-Nothing News." The Pillar Of Autumn says the average price per gallon of gasoline will be $4.01 by late August. At that price, the US economy will begin to buckle and then collapse. It may recover, or it may lead to a full blown Depression. Of course, no one knows they're in a Depression until you are 2 years into it and no one sees any daylight.
I fear for hard-working Americans, and their innocent children. There are stormclouds on the horizon................



U.S. gasoline prices rise to almost $2.79/gallon

Sun Apr 8, 2007 4:41 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices rose due to reduced U.S. refinery capacity and strong demand, according to an industry analyst on Sunday.
The national average for self-serve regular unleaded gas was $2.789 a gallon on April 6, up about 18.23 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations.
This was 24 cents below the all-time high of $3.03 on August 11, 2006 and about 12 cents above the average price a year ago.
"Very little of this big price hike comes from crude oil. Most of it is a result of reduced U.S. refining capacity utilization while gasoline demand has been strong," said survey editor Trilby Lundberg.
Because of glitches at some refineries Lundberg said refiners had been using their stocks to satisfy demand rather than "run as much crude oil through their refineries.
Lundberg noted that demand was increasing as drivers headed out of the seasonally weaker winter months.
"Gasoline demand is rising seasonally as it always does month by month after the demand month of January," Lundberg said. "This year it's rising more strongly than usual because of the good economy" and because daylight savings time came about three weeks earlier than usual this year, encouraging some motorists to get behind the wheel, Lundberg said.
The analyst said that once refinery projects are completed gasoline prices could peak.
"I believe gasoline prices will peak and then slide down very soon," she said. "The slide down cannot be steep, however, unless crude oil prices drop, because demand does not shrink from here."
At $3.30 a gallon, San Francisco had the highest average price for self-serve regular gas, while the lowest price was $2.54 a gallon in Charleston, South Carolina, Lundberg said .

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