Gas prices climb higher by the day
It was 1 p.m. Thursday and Melissa Sherwood was still selling gasoline for $2.99 a gallon. But before the clock would strike 2, the same regular grade of gasoline would be $3.19. “The customers aren’t exactly happy with the prices at all,” said the Speedy Meedy’s Inc. manager of the seemingly hourly hike in prices at the Dunbar Township convenience store.
Five or so miles away, Bhaskar Reddy, operator of the Sunoco A-Plus Store in Connellsville, speculated that his station marquee would again change overnight from the Thursday $2.99 price to $3.19 per gallon for those filling their tanks for the long Labor Day weekend ahead.
One week ago, gas prices at the pump averaged $2.52.
The staggering increase prompted Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday to urge drivers to conserve fuel and state agencies to put in place energy-saving measures.
“All of us have been affected by the scope and magnitude of this national disaster, and all of us play a part in the ongoing recovery effort,” he said.
Connellsville resident Francis Domaracki was fueling his car at the Sunoco station and found he was paying 30 cents more per gallon than he had the day before when he filled the gas tank of his truck.
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
Local gas price hikes were similar to those seen across the state and country.
According to the Web site www.gasBuddy.com, drivers in the Philadelphia area were paying about $2.65 per gallon Tuesday afternoon and $3.29 Thursday morning. Neighboring Cleveland, Ohio, drivers were experiencing a lesser rise in per gallon costs, with prices averaging $3.19 mid-day Thursday – up from $2.69 on Wednesday.
Reddy said his customers were given a break with the 30-cent-per-gallon overnight price hike as his supplier charged him 36 cents for the same gallon of gas.
“You have to stay competitive,” he said, noting that most service stations in the Connellsville area were selling their regular grade gasoline at $2.99.
Reddy said he’s seen a significant slowdown in the number of customers coming into his store and purchasing coffee, a hoagie, candy or a doughnut for their trip ahead because of the escalating prices.
“If gas is only $2.60, customers have a little extra to spend in the store. When it’s more, there is no extra money,” he said.
Some local motorists who were filling their vehicles with gasoline Thursday said they have been trying to reduce unnecessary travel and overall spending due to high fuel prices.
“You have to readjust your budget,” said William Garbart of Lemont Furnace as he was buying gas at the Sunoco on Pittsburgh Street in Uniontown, where regular unleaded was selling for $2.99 a gallon. “You have to make sure you have enough money to go to work.”
He said he doesn’t make a lot of money working at a local fast food restaurant, and lately he hasn’t been completely filling up his sport-utility vehicle’s gas tank due to the price of gas.
Garbart also said the soaring prices caused him to cancel a recent weekend getaway with family and friends and stay home more often to cut spending.
He said one gas station posted a price of $2.99 per gallon when he passed it in the morning and the price was $3.19 when he passed in the afternoon.
“I think it’s jumping way to fast,” Garbart said.
Barry Ware, who was fueling a company truck at the Sunoco, said he has “cut down on some running around,” but took his family on a vacation that they all looked forward to this summer.
“You can cut down on other things, but grocery shopping and work, you have to pay it,” Ware said.
Josh Jones and Mike Capan of Hopwood pulled into the Kwik-Fill on Route 40 between Hopwood and Uniontown and said the $3.19-per-gallon price was “outrageous.”
“It was $2.99 and went up to $3.19, which is ridiculous,” said Jason Skinner, who works at the Kwik-Fill.
He just shook his head as he collected $30 for filling a car with 11.2 gallons of gas.
Skinner said he heard of some gas stations running out of gas because of late deliveries, but the station where he works hasn’t experienced a shortage yet. “But that can change at any time,” he said.
The discount cards from Kwik-Fill are in great demand, he said.
“People are treating them like gold now.”
Other signs that some people are struggling to pay high gas prices are the types of currency being tendered.
Skinner said he collected $30 worth of $2 bills during his shift on Saturday.
Some customers have handed him handfuls of loose change, while one customer paid with a roll of quarters Thursday.
He said he also has received different types of dollar coins.
“If they got it, they’ll bring it in for gas,” Skinner said.
Domaracki said the higher prices were causing him to combine trips made around town, when possible.
“You have to try,” he said.
Ken Dixon was making his daily trek through the region, installing “For Sale” signs for area realtors, and stopped to fill up his 32-gallon Chevrolet 1500, four-wheel-drive truck.
His work travels average 200 miles per day.
On Thursday, his day started at 5 a.m. in Greensburg. From there he drove to Ligonier and then Uniontown before he returned to his West Homestead residence.
The company, Sign Creations, furnishes the fuel for the truck, but managers have asked him to be cognizant of travel routes and to shut the truck off while he installs the signs.
“I would normally just leave the truck run, as it only takes me five minutes to put a sign up,” said Dixon. “They are asking me now to turn off the ignition.”
The escalating gas prices have required him to quit a part-time job delivering pizzas, as nightly tips no longer make up for the cost he pays to fill his tank.
“It’s just not worth it,” he said. “When you’re putting in $15 of gas and only getting $30 in tips, you can’t do it.”
Monica Jones, spokeswoman for Sheetz, ties the exorbitant prices to higher petroleum demand in Europe and the loss of transmission pipelines and refineries in the Gulf Coast region.
“Today we have product at all of our stores,” she said. “We had some difficulty (Tuesday and Wednesday) with the pipelines being down.”
Two pipelines that supply the Altoona-based corporation with gasoline originate in Texas and travel through Louisiana before being shipped to the 188 stores throughout Pennsylvania.
“We were directly affected by the hurricane,” said Jones.
Most stores, she added, are charging $3.19 per gallon for the regular grade, but the company is paying “well above $3” for the product.
“People are buying, but they are angry,” said Jones. “We’re angry too. It’s painful everywhere.”
Speculation that companies are using the damage leveled in the Gulf Coast region by Hurricane Katrina to raise prices is untrue, said Jones.
“Our wholesale costs have skyrocketed and we are at the mercy of our suppliers,” she said.
“We can’t pay any less than they want us to pay.”
The Bush administration said Wednesday that it will consider tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to boost supplies lost when Katrina blasted through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Eight refineries in the Gulf of Mexico were shuttered.
The region produces nearly a third of domestic oil production.
“Looking at the broader impacts on the nation, we are mindful that the affected region contributes a significant amount of our oil, gas and refined product supply,” Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said.
“As we assess damage, we will take the appropriate response.”