WASHINGTON - We might be paying more for gas these days, but
we??re also using less of it, the Wall Street Journal reports. The cost of a
gallon of regular gasoline rose 18.1 cents to reach $3.538 in a week??s time,
the biggest weekly bump in close to 24 months, according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration.
Overall, demand has lessened as the economy stays slow and
more fuel-efficient vehicles are on the road. But gasoline prices have risen
with troubles in pipeline transportation, which bumped U.S. crude oil futures
up 12% over the past seven weeks. Also contributing to higher prices are the
aftereffects of Superstorm Sandy, which pushed back delivery in the Northeast.
Nationally, retail gas prices have topped $3.52, which the
EIA hadn??t predicted until April, with the start of the peak driving season.
AAA analysts forecast pump prices reaching $3.60 to $3.80 in the second
quarter.
A new survey by NACS points out the futility of driving out
of the way to save pennies on a gallon of gasoline. Jeff Lenard, NACS
spokesman, lays out the fault in that strategy. On an average fill-up of nine
gallons at $3.30 per gallon, "assuming that the car gets 30 miles per gallon at
45 miles per hour, a 20-minute round trip to save approximately 45 cents would
consume a half-gallon of gasoline, or $1.65," he said.
Read more in the recently released 2013 NACSRetail Fuels Report.