Pain at the pump worse than Katrina aftermath

WSLS News Staff
Published: February 28, 2008

The pain at the pump is now worse than in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

AAA Mid-Atlantic says the price of a gallon of regular unleaded “skyrocketed” 15 cents in the past seven days nationally.  The average price in the U.S. is now $3.16 per gallon, seven cents below the all time high of $3.23 set on May 24, 2007.  Virginia is at $3.11 on average, three cents below the all-time high of $3.14 set on September 5, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina hit.

“The cost of gasoline has hit the highest-ever price point during the winter months,“ commented Martha M. Meade, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs in a news release.  “As the price edges closer to the previous record day-by-day consumers are wondering if and when this misery at the pumps will end,“ Meade added.

The Roanoke region’s average price for a gallon of regular unleaded stands at $3.08, a nickel below the all-time high of $3.13 set on September 4, 2005.

AAA Mid-Atlantic says gas prices are nearly 40% above the average cost at this time last year, and prices this year have been above the price on the same date as last year for 26 straight weeks.  Roanoke’s average price on February 28, 2007 was $2.24.  Virginia’s was $2.26.

“When Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005, it wiped out oil production along the Gulf Coast, shut down oil refinery capacity in that region, damaged oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, halted the operation of the pipeline, slowed U. S. oil production to a trickle, crimped the supply of gasoline, and sent pump prices into the stratosphere,“ commented Meade in the news release.  “Back then, consumers were crying foul and reeling from what were then - at $3.05 per gallon - the highest recorded pump prices in American history. Now drivers are facing another price pinch and the prospects of even more sticker shock as higher prices continue.  Now price-weary drivers, who are already spending more than $1.25 billion a day on fuel purchases, are wondering why prices are escalating with such rapidity.  No doubt, consumers are left shell-shock by the unprecedented step-up in gasoline prices,“ Meade added.

Truck drivers are also feeling the pain at the pump.  The price of diesel fuel also hit a new record high overnight.  A gallon of diesel fuel averages $3.63 nationally, and $3.57 in Virginia, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.