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U.S. retail gasoline prices hit a record high for the second week in a row and matched the inflation-adjusted peak reached in the early 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war, the government said on Monday, as concern about low motor fuel supplies pushed up pump costs.

The average price for regular unleaded gasoline soared 11.5 cents over the last week to a fresh record of $3.22 a gallon, according to the federal Energy Information Administration’s nationwide survey of 800 service stations.

The much larger Lundberg industry survey of 7,000 stations showed the national price of gasoline jumped 11.4 cents over the last two weeks to a record $3.18 a gallon.

The latest EIA pump price also equals the all-time high fuel cost of $3.22 a gallon, when adjusted for inflation, reached in March 1981 after war erupted between Iran and Iraq.

Guy Caruso, who heads the EIA, said on Monday that consumers should not see gasoline prices begin falling until next month.

“We are expecting that things should improve in June,” he said. “We still have some more of the wholesale (gasoline) prices to pass through (to the pump). We’re not at the peak yet.”

Gasoline prices have skyrocketed $1.05 a gallon since the beginning of February and are up 33 cents from a year ago.

With several large refineries down this spring for maintenance or shut by problems, gasoline production has been reduced, cutting into available supplies.

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How fast do we forget?  Do you remember that only a few years ago our gas prices were half of what we they are today?  Do you remember last year when gas prices broke a new record high with the war and conflict in the Middle East?  I remember!  Gas prices soared and the people of North America complained bitterly.  We jumped on our government officials and demanded that they take action…. And they did.  Or at least they gave us lip service and pretended to care.  Now fast forward to today where gasoline prices have once again reached a new all time record and we have done nothing.

Last year the reasons for the price hikes were at best superficial and certainly not accurate.  This year, the prices have increased even though our stocks on gasoline are at an all time high, we sit and do nothing.

Is anyone else concerned that the price per liter or gallon of gas has increased for what appears to be no reason?  The current gas prices are not reflective of the market and it is criminal that the law makers have not jumped on this.  I like everyone else believes that we need to cut down on the driving we do, especially when we could walk or ride a bike, but to allow price gouging should never be allowed.

I think it is time we strike back and demand the government backs the people.  Why should a single mother who is struggling to pay the bills be forced to pay more than double what she should while fat cat oil companies continue to earn record PROFITS.  Something needs to be done!  We need to band together and force the politicians to take notice and help, and failing that, we need to come up with a strategy that will help us fight the rising price of fuel!

U.S. consumers are digging deeper in their pockets to fill up at the pump with the average price for gasoline now a record $3.10 a gallon, the government said on Monday.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline rose 5 cents over the last week and is up 16 cents from a year ago, according to the U.S Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey of service stations.

The latest pump price tops the old record of $3.07 set in September 2005 after Hurricane Katrina disrupted refinery operations and oil production along the Gulf Coast, the EIA said.

The much larger AAA survey showed the price for gasoline at a record $3.07 on Monday.

Higher gasoline costs are cutting into consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic growth.

The EIA has forecast the national gasoline price will stay at or near $3 a gallon for most of the summer, but will not come close to the $4 level that many consumers fear.

Energy experts say rising motor fuel costs reflect the temporary shutdown of several oil refineries, strong petroleum demand, militant attacks on Nigeria’s oil production and higher crude prices.

Guy Caruso, who heads the EIA, said that given the tight supply conditions, OPEC oil ministers needed to boost crude production this summer and not wait until their next planned meeting in September to decide whether to change oil output levels

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Gasoline prices hit a new record at the pump on Monday, but gas futures prices fell on concerns that $3 gas will crimp demand. Oil prices, meanwhile, rose on reports of refinery problems in the U.S. and abroad.

The average national price of a gallon of gas hit $3.073 on Monday, up almost a penny from Sunday’s also record-setting price, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gasoline is now well above the previous record of $3.057, set on Sept. 5, 2005, soon after Hurricane Katrina.

But gasoline futures for June delivery fell 5.09 cents to settle at $2.3012 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 9 cents to settle at $62.46 a barrel on the Nymex.

Heating oil futures fell 1.55 cents to settle at $1.8668 per gallon on the Nymex, while natural gas prices gained 5.3 cents to settle at $7.952 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude for June settled unchanged at $66.83 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Chip Hodge, energy portfolio manager at John Hancock Financial Securities, in Boston, thinks gasoline futures traders may be reacting psychologically to the fact that pump prices are setting new records.

“You just get a feeling that $3 a gallon. … It’s got to have an impact from a demand standpoint,” Hodge said. “So, maybe there’s a little bit of a selloff on those pressures.”

While oil prices rose on the day, they settled well off their earlier highs on news that Chevron Corp. plans to restart a 42,000 barrels-per-day Nigerian oil facility, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.

“There was good news out of Nigeria after a lot of bad news,” Flynn said. “They’re pumping oil again.”

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The New York Times has reported that between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels a day of Iraq’s declared oil production over past four years is unaccounted for.  How could billions of dollars in oil go missing?  Who controls the oil and where do you suppose it has gone?

It has been suggested that some could have been siphoned off through corruption, smuggling or some other big coverup.

We will report more on this major story as it develops.

A service station that offered discounted gas to senior citizens and people supporting youth sports has been ordered by the state to raise its prices.

Center City BP owner Raj Bhandari has been offering senior citizens a 2 cent per gallon price break and discount cards that let sports boosters pay 3 cents less per gallon.

But the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection says those deals violate Wisconsin’s Unfair Sales Act, which requires stations to sell gas for about 9.2 percent more than the wholesale price.

Bhandari said he received a letter from the state auditor last month saying the state would sue him if he did not raise his prices. The state could penalize him for each discounted gallon he sold, with the fine determined by a judge.

Bhandari, who bought the station a year ago, said he worries customers will think he stopped the discounts because he wants to make more money. About 10 percent of his customers had used the discount cards.

Dale Van Camp said he bought a $50 card to support the local youth hockey program. It would have saved him about $100 per year on gas, he said.

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U.S. gasoline prices shot above $3.00 per gallon on Friday, within striking distance of record highs, as the creaking domestic refinery system strained to keep up with rising demand.

Average retail gasoline prices in the world’s top consumer reached $3.012 a gallon, the AAA travel group said, up more than 30 cents since early April and near the record of $3.057 hit after hurricanes slammed Gulf Coast oil installations in 2005.

This year, companies struggling to retool refineries to meet new environmental standards, have faced longer, more extensive maintenance and serious outages, draining gasoline inventories ahead of peak summer demand.

“The problem this year is our continuing and increasing inability to refine enough gasoline to meet growing demand,” said Geoff Sundstrom of AAA. “I think it is very possible that we will set a new record high price this month.”

U.S gasoline stocks have dropped by 15 percent in three months, with refineries now running at around 88 percent of capacity, well below the 92 percent analysts say is normal this time of year to build up summer gasoline stocks.

“By this point in the season, nationwide gasoline inventories should be building, or at a minimum plateauing,” Stephen Schork of the Schork Group said in a report.

New lower sulfur fuel specifications have forced refiners to increase the complexity of their equipment, making them more prone to outages.

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The average price of gasoline may have jumped through the U.S. but nothing like the spike seen at a gas station near the airport over the weekend.

The Problem Solvers found a Chevron gas station in Orlando near the airport charging $4 for a gallon of regular.

“I was shocked,” motorist Cindy Confer said after purchasing $4 gas. “I was thinking we should have gone down the road.”

“You didn’t stop to look before you started pumping?” Local 6′s Mike DeForest said.

“I looked out here,” Confer said.

Local 6 reported that the prices were not put on any signs at the business.

The station was also selling Plus gas for $4.09 and charging $4.19 for premium gas, the report said.

“I would not put those prices on the big sign out there either and they didn’t,” Local 6′s Marla Weech said.

Officials with AAA said $4 for a gallon of regular gas is well above the average price in Orlando and Daytona Beach.

Motorist in Orlando are paying $2.87 and $2.94 in Daytona Beach.

The national average is $2.87 a gallon, according to AAA.

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Whether it’s $50 to fill up your Prius or $130 for the Ford Expedition, $4-a-gallon gasoline is coming to a pump near you.Fuel prices are rising at a pace not seen since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita knocked out a third of the U.S. oil refining industry in 2005. Gasoline consumption is climbing twice as fast as last year and will accelerate when summer travel begins late next month.

“What we’re surprised by is the increased demand,” said James Mulva, chief executive officer at ConocoPhillips, whose refineries from California to New Jersey produce 56 million gallons of gas a day, enough to meet 14 percent of the country’s needs. “Even though the price of gasoline is up, the demand is up,” he said in an April 12 interview in Houston.

Population gains and U.S. economic growth are causing an increase in fuel purchases, according to Orlando, Florida-based AAA, the nation’s largest organization for motorists. The U.S. economy will expand at a 2.4 percent annual pace in the second quarter, up from 1.8 percent in the first three months, according to the median estimate of 74 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Gasoline use is rising almost 5 percent above the five-year average.

Americans are resigned to higher prices, says David Pursell, a principal with Pickering Energy Partners, a consulting firm in Houston.

“Last year, we had pump prices well over $3 for the summer and gasoline demand was up,” Pursell said in an interview. “Would $4 gasoline cause demand contraction? I think it will, but I also thought $3 gasoline would.”

Pump Prices

Gasoline inventories, measured by the days of demand they will cover, are at the lowest level in two decades for this time of year because of refinery fires, power failures and maintenance work oil companies failed to complete in 2006. No new U.S. refinery has been built in three decades, increasing the strain on existing plants.

Pump prices in the U.S. may increase to $4 a gallon from a nationwide average of $2.87 today, especially if hurricanes threaten Gulf of Mexico refineries, says Peter Beutel, an analyst at Cameron Hanover Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, who helps industrial consumers manage energy costs.

“Hurricanes are always the huge wild card,” said Beutel. “We’re all praying for a year like 2006 rather than 2005.”

The June-to-November Atlantic Ocean hurricane season may produce 17 tropical storms, with nine reaching hurricane force and four becoming major hurricanes whose winds exceed 111 miles per hour (179 kilometers per hour), London-based forecasters at Tropical Storm Risk said. Some of the storms will strike the Gulf Coast this year after a benign 2006, AccuWeather.com predicted.

Inflation Risk

Higher pump prices will make winners of refinery owners such as ConocoPhillips, San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc of The Hague. Shares of Valero and Sunoco Inc., whose only business is refining, are rebounding after a decline at the end of last summer.

The increase in fuel costs threatens to quicken inflation and restrain consumer spending in the U.S. An appreciation to $4 a gallon would add more than $10 for a driver who fills the 12- gallon tank of a Toyota Motor Corp. Prius. The owner of an Expedition, a Ford Motor Co. sport-utility vehicle with a 34- gallon capacity, faces an increase of almost $40.

Many Americans have no choice but to drive more, says Christopher Knittel, an economist who studies fuel consumption at the University of California in Davis.

More Commuters

“We live farther from our jobs than we did in the 1970s, and with the rise of dual-income households, we now have two people who drive those distances every day,” Knittel said.

Consumers also do more driving for things such as taking children to soccer practice, which they are unlikely to quit, he said. The U.S. population has increased 1 percent a year in the past decade to 301 million in 2007, adding to demand for gasoline, economists said.

Rising fuel prices make it less likely that Federal Reserve policy makers, who have cited inflation risks for the past year, will cut interest rates to spur economic growth. Before the hurricane-induced peak in 2005, U.S. gasoline topped out at $1.42 a gallon in March 1981, or $3.21 when adjusted for inflation, according to the Energy Department.

Economies in Europe and Asia are less likely to be hurt by gasoline prices because fuel already is subject to high taxes designed to encourage conservation. A gallon of unleaded costs about 3.25 pounds a gallon ($6.49) in the U.K., and in Japan it’s 130.3 yen per liter ($4.16 a gallon).

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The price of meat is set to rise in America as the nation’s helter-skelter dash to convert corn into road fuel begins to take its toll on the supply of food.

The US Department of Agriculture has said that meat supply will fall this year because of the high cost of feed. Output of beef, pork and chicken is expected to decline by one billion pounds as farmers react to the soaring cost of feeding their livestock.

Typically, meat production in the United States rises by about 2 per cent a year, but the pressure from American ethanol producers manufacturing road fuel from corn has sent the price of maize soaring to $4 a bushel.

The USDA is predicting that the 2006 corn crop will sell for an average of $3.10 a bushel at the farm gate, the highest for a decade. Faced with extortionate feed costs, cattle and poultry farmers are rearing fewer animals and slaughtering them early. That means a sudden reversal in the annual meat production gain, representing a fall of 1.7lb per person.

“There is a new demand component,” Shayle Shagam, a livestock analyst at USDA, said. “Livestock producers have to bid against the ethanol industry to get supplies of corn.”

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