Gas prices are highest ever for this time of year

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-02-18-16-20-35

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gasoline prices have never been higher this time of the year.

At $3.53 a gallon, prices are already up 25 cents since Jan. 1. And experts say they could reach a record $4.25 a gallon by late April.

"You're going to see a lot more staycations this year," says Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. "When the price gets anywhere near $4, you really see people react."

Already, W. Howard Coudle, a retired machinist from Crestwood, Mo., has seen his monthly gasoline bill rise to $80 from about $60 in December. The closest service station is selling regular for $3.39 per gallon, the highest he's ever seen.

[FirstLight]

1. jesus, i'd like those prices out west!

this gas went up 20 cents JUST this thursday because of the holiday weekend, now it's $4.09... ya, we've been living with $3.89 for months...

gonna be time to get a horse or a burro soon, lol

[socialindependocrat]

2. Remember when people said...

"They just want to raise prices so people will be happy if
it's $2.00 a gallon"

They've increased the price dramatically

They've made record profits over the past 4-5 years

And heating oil and diesel fuel are at record highs
and it's easier to distill than gasoline!

and

They won't let off...

Someone's gonna get pissed....

[Honeycombe8]

3. It was $3.56, I think, when I filled up a few days ago. Regular unleaded. But I have a Honda Fit.

It's not a hybrid, but I get about 29mpg (about 27mpg with a/c on).

[progress2k12nbynd]

4. Actually I've been shocked that it's basically a nonstory...

Same prices in 2008, during peak driving season, with 2 wars, was the only thing people talked about and basically eliminated any chance of a repuke getting in in November.

All indications this time though is this won't even phase Obama's reelection, though it is going to kill the working poor.

[B Calm]

5. $3.29 pg at our local Pilot

in Covington, In

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. That's because oil prices are at their highest ever for this time of year

in February of 2008, oil was trading at about $100 a barrel. Oil is now trading at around $120 a barrel for all grades of US domestic crude and all grades of foreign crude...except for West Texas Intermediate, which is used as the US benchmark for crude oil prices, and is trading at a substantial discount to other crude oils because of excess supply at the oil depot in Cushing Oklahoma and a lack of pipeline capacity. So the oil price you see in the news is totally wrong and misleading.

[JDPriestly]

7. People who know the score on oil know that it is a finite resource

subject to enormous demand.

Sure. There is still oil in the earth, but it is more and more expensive to bring it to the surface and more and more desired by more and more people.

That's why we need to focus on alternative energy.

There is nothing new, nothing new at all about the fact that oil prices go up and down and up on each peak go just a bit higher.