Gasoline price surges past $3 per gallon, higher in Louisville area
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010, 11 a.m. — The rising price of crude oil and the speculation in the commodity markets has pushed the average price of gasoline in Kentucky over the $3 mark, and even higher in Nelson County. By Wednesday morning, nearly every retail outlet in the Bardstown area listed the undiscounted price of regular fuel at $3.09-9/10 per gallon.
Gasoline prices tend to fluctuate seasonally, rising during the summer driving season and dropping after Labor Day. That’s not been the case this year.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the national average price for regular gasoline rose more than 30 cents since Labor Day. This marks the largest increase in fuel costs for this period since the EIA began tracking weekly gas prices.
Crude oil prices have gradually risen from $80 a barrel in August to over $90 per barrel this week. The cost of crude accounts for approximately 60 percent of the price of gasoline.
Another factor in rising gas prices is market demand, and speculators are anticipating higher demand in the U.S., China and India. While demand is anticipated to increase, the current gasoline supply has dropped. According to the EIA, gasoline stocks on the East Coast are nearly 3 million barrels below the five-year average.
Gas prices in Jefferson County were well over $3 per gallon, with media outlets reporting some retailers asking as much as $3.15 per gallon of regular gas. The highest reported Louisville gas price today on the LouisvilleGasPrices.com website was $3.19 per gallon at Murphy Oil on Ruckriegel Parkway.
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