Gasoline spikes to $2.19 per gallon; Could hit $2.50 by summer
By LAURA B. MARTINEZ
The Brownsville Herald
April 6, 2005 Maria Elena Slovak spent part of her Tuesday afternoon shopping throughout town. But, instead of bargain shopping for clothes or gifts, she sought gasoline deals.
drove to H-E-B grocery store on Boca Chica Boulevard, which at times can have gasoline up to 5 cents lower than other stores, she said.
Slovak, however, was out of luck. Virtually every convenience store or gasoline station in the city sold unleaded fuel at $2.19 per gallon, up 20 cents from last week.
I hope they leave the prices like that or that they will go a little bit down, Slovak said, while pumping the precious product into her car at Speedy Stop on Palm and Boca Chica boulevards.
Slovak purchased $7 worth of gasoline for her petite Dodge Neon, which will last just a couple of driving days.
Slovak said regardless if gasoline prices continue to rise, she is still at the mercy of her car which needs the fuel for survival.
Unleaded gasoline was at $1.99 per gallon as of Thursday and had remained at that price for nearly two weeks.
On Friday, motorists found themselves paying $2.09 per gallon as the price jumped by 10 cents overnight.
The hike was anticipated after the price of crude oil increased to $57 per barrel, according to the Department of Energy.
On Monday, the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline jumped by another 10 cents to $2.19 from $2.09. Reports indicate the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline could reach $2.50 by the summer.
According to AAA Texas, the statewide average price is at a new all-time high at $2.10. A year ago, it was $1.65.
Analysts attribute the high gasoline prices to the rise in crude oil. Oil traded for $58 a barrel for a short time on Monday, before dropping to $57 a barrel.
Analysts predict oil prices could climb as high as $60 a barrel, which could cause gasoline prices to continue to increase, said Rose Rogeau, spokeswoman for AAA Texas.
With gasoline prices expected to continue to rise, City Finance Director Pete Gonzalez said he will submit a budget amendment within the next few weeks to the City Commission to help with the cost.
The city has funds in reserves for emergencies such as this, Gonzalez said. Although they had anticipated higher prices while constructing the fiscal 2005-06 budget, they did not think the prices would increase so quickly.
When we started the year, we didnt expect fuel to go this high, so we will have some adjustments to make, Gonzalez said. I dont think weve exceeded the budget, but we will exceed the budget if the prices dont fall.
Police Chief Carlos Garcia said he has not issued any directives to his officers as to not using the air conditioners while on patrol or turning the patrols cars off when arriving at calls for service.
However, he said the department is purchasing patrol cars with smaller engines. The police departments fleet stands at 170 vehicles.
In the past, the department would purchase police packages that included eight-cylinder cars that used more gasoline, Garcia said. It is now switching to six-cylinder vehicles.
That is going to pretty much be our goal and objective in the future to purchase vehicles that utilize less gasoline to operate, he said.
lmartinez@brownsvillherald.com
