🚀 go-pugleaf

By Steven Mufson, Tuesday, February 19, 5:45 PM

The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline has jumped 45 
cents in the past 31 days, according to AAA, the fastest run-up 
since 2005.

Retail gasoline prices have climbed for 33 days in a row. A 
month ago, a gallon of regular gasoline cost $3.30; on Tuesday 
it stood at $3.75 nationwide.

Gasoline prices have risen to within a nickel of $4 a gallon in 
the District as pump prices nationwide have been marching higher 
� the result of refinery closures and maintenance, lower oil 
production by Saudi Arabia, market anxiety about tensions in 
Iran and Iraq, and guarded optimism about the prospects for 
economic recovery in the United States, Europe and China.

The prices in the District are among the highest in the country, 
outstripped only by New York, Connecticut, California and Hawaii.

�This is the most expensive we�ve seen gasoline in the dead of 
winter,� which is ususally a time of relatively low consumption, 
said John Townsend, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. Noting 
that the increase comes just as the payroll tax cut has expired, 
Townsend said that �this is a double whammy for many consumers, 
especially on the East Coast, because many people there use home 
heating oil. .?.?. People got that shock to the system and now a 
shock at the gas pumps.�

The price increases have been a rude reminder that even though 
the United States� reliance on imported oil is less than it has 
been in nearly two decades, prices at service stations are still 
tied to global prices and subject to global market trends, as 
well as to regional refinery constraints.

In the District, gasoline prices inched up to $3.95 a gallon 
Tuesday, up from $3.57 a month ago and $3.77 a year ago. In 
Maryland, gasoline stood at $3.74 a gallon, up from $3.39 a 
month ago and $3.62 a year ago. In Virginia, it registered $3.65 
on Tuesday, up from $3.26 a month ago and $3.54 a year earlier.

Analysts differed widely on the causes of the increase.

The price of crude oil, which makes up about two-thirds of the 
price of gasoline, remains extremely high by historical 
standards. The price of a barrel of the benchmark West Texas 
Intermediate grade of crude oil for March delivery climbed 80 
cents to settle at $96.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile 
Exchange. In London markets, the price is about $20 a barrel 
higher.

One factor is lower crude oil output from the Organization of 
the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Saudi Arabia is producing 
about 700,000 fewer barrels a day than a year ago, according to 
the International Energy Agency.

Yet global inventories of oil are ample, and the IEA has 
forecast that increases in oil supplies around the world � 
including the United States, Kazakhstan, southern Iraq and 
Africa � will outstrip increases in oil demand.

�Oil prices are inflated by concern about potential oil supply 
disruption. All I have to do is watch TV for five minutes,� said 
Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst with Oppenheimer. He pointed to 
continuing tension between the United States, Israel and Iran 
over Tehran�s nuclear program; the ongoing civil war in Syria; 
and factional violence in such oil-exporting nations as Libya 
and Iraq.

Greg Priddy, an oil analyst with the Eurasia Group, said that 
prices appeared to be higher than supply-and-demand fundamentals 
would justify. �There is a growing tension between market 
fundamentals� and the risks that traders and investors are 
willing to take, he said.

�The markets are breathing a sigh of relief about tail risks 
like euro zone, the fiscal cliff and sequestration,� he said, 
referring to the recent U.S. budget brinkmanship. �There has 
also been some positive economic data in places like China.�

But some analysts also pointed to refinery issues. Several 
refineries have been shut down for routine maintenance, and in 
the eastern United States, several refineries simply went out of 
business in the past year.

�Atlantic Basin capacity closures have improved refining 
fundamentals,� the nation�s biggest refiner, Valero, said in a 
slide presentation at a Credit Suisse conference this month. It 
estimated that nearly 1 million barrels a day of refinery 
capacity has been closed on the East Coast or in the U.S. Virgin 
Islands in the past two years, which Valero said allowed it to 
increase profit margins.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gas-prices-are-on-
a-mysterious-climb/2013/02/19/26298f84-7ade-11e2-82e8-
61a46c2cde3d_story.html

--
Are you obligated as an armed civilian, to defend unarmed 
liberals while you are both under fire by foreign agents of the 
outlaw Obama administration?

No.  Shoot the liberals immediately so they can't stab you in 
the back while you are defending yourself, then return a 
controlled rate of aimed fire.  ��

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