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Not too long ago I was actually feeling hopeful that gasoline prices in the Inland Northwest would drop enough to once again be on a par with prices in western Washington. In the past week or so, my hopes have been trampled. As of Tuesday, March 27, prices in both Spokane and Coeur d'Alene were up about 30 cents a gallon from prices just a month ago. And it looks like they will continue to climb.
According to a recent Associated Press article in The Spokesman-Review newspaper, gas prices are on the rise for several different reasons:
• Gasoline stockpiles are slipping, as reported in U.S. government oil inventory reports;
• Refinery problems and seasonal maintenance are hampering U.S. production of gasoline;
• Importation of foreign fuel is nearing a two-year low;
• U.S. gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange continue to rise -- up over 50 percent since January 18; and
• Demand is on the rise as the summer driving season fast approaches.
Will our refineries be able to turn up production and increase the supply of fuel before the summer months hit? Maybe not. Some refineries in our country are not producing due to technical or safety problems. Some are undergoing seasonal maintenance. A recent fire at BP PLC's oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana, has shut down units for four to six weeks. A February fire at a Sunray, Texas, refinery has completely shut down production (158,000 barrels a day) until April and will reduce capacity through the end of this year. Overall, U.S. refinery utilization was at 86.3 percent of capacity as of March 16 … the lowest for this time of the year since 2002.
Bottom line is we need to count on gasoline prices rising at the pump, at least through the summer of 2007. If you're planning a family vacation and think that driving … as opposed to flying, for instance … is going to save you money, you'd better do the math.
Let's say you want to take your family to Disneyland. We'll estimate that gas is averaging $3.00 per gallon and the vehicle you're driving averages 13 mile per gallon. The trip to Anaheim, California, would be about 1,300 one way, so you'd consume about 100 gallons of gas getting there. The cost for that gas would be $300. Total cost for gasoline round-trip would be $600 or more.
If you think it would be cheaper to fly, you might be right. You can find out by searching for flight, hotel and car rental prices on our search page. Be sure you check out our Vacation Packages on that same page because the total cost will include airfare and hotel accommodations. Maybe when you factor in the amount of time you save by getting where you want to go faster, you'll decide to leave the driving to someone else this year. Bon voyage!
We'd like to hear about your vacation plans for the summer and how the rising cost of gasoline may or may not affect your plans. Do you plan to fly instead of driving to your destination? Do you plan to drive, but stay a lot closer to home this year? Do you plan to stay home altogether because the cost to fuel up your car the rest of the year has cut into your vacation eggnest? Or do you plan to charge everything on your credit card and then figure out how to pay for it after vacation? Email us and we'll post your comments on Spokane.net. If you don't have time tp write, then be sure to vote in our PulsePoll.
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Poll Results ...
Question:
"Will the rising cost of gasoline have an impact on your summer vacation plans?"
Results:
Yes -- 28.6%
No -- 57.1%
Staying home this year -- 14.3%
Flying to vacation destination -- 0.0%
Undecided -- 0.0%
Send us your comments ...
We’d like to know what you have to say about this week’s Hot Topic. Send your comments to Editor@Spokane.net, and we will post them . Be sure to include this week's Hot Topic title in the reference line of your email.
If you have suggestions for topics you would like to see discussed in Hot Topics, email us.
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