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United States News Title: California To See $4 A Gallon For Gas; Obama Must Be Happy Remember predictions just last week that gas prices in California could top $4 a gallon before Memorial Day? Bank on it, and possibly within a few weeks. -- The uprising in Libya unleashed the specter of record-setting prices in the state Wednesday, fueled by crude oil touching the benchmark of $100 per barrel for the first time since 2008. “Investors and speculators didn’t get too excited with unrest in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain,” said Tom Robinson, president of Robinson Oil of San Jose. “But Libya has really spooked them.” Robinson, whose company owns the Rotten Robbie gas stations, said spot market prices for unleaded gas in the Bay Area jumped 10 cents Tuesday followed by a 13-cent jump Wednesday. Even worse, the sharp rise in gasoline prices strikes an already feeble California economy, as a jump at the pump could lead consumers to cut back in other areas of spending. Many drivers are already making changes in their behind-the-wheel habits. Some say they are bicycling more, while others are combining errands, looking for carpool partners, considering transit or tightening their financial belts anyway they can. “We don’t go out to eat as much and we don’t shop as much,” said Floyd Jimmerson, of Tracy, who was at a small retail center across the street from a Shell station at Market and Seventh streets in Oakland. On Wednesday morning, that station had the distinction of being in a tie for the highest price in the Bay Area for regular gas, at $3.85 a gallon. “We do less driving.” The immediate concern is that the upheaval in Libya will lead to oil shortages in Europe, said Susanne Garfield of the California Energy Commission, “sparking fears of a cascading supply shortage since Europe will be looking elsewhere to sate their needs.” But the nightmare scenario is if instability infects oil titans Saudi Arabia and Iran, said Jason Toews, co-founder of Minnesota-based GasBuddy.com, an Internet site that tracks gasoline prices. Then $4 a gallon will seem a bargain. “If you have problems in Saudi Arabia or Iran, that could send crude oil prices north of $200,” Toews said. “In that case, the Bay Area for sure would hit $5 to $6 a gallon. I don’t see $7 a gallon for the Bay Area. But $6 isn’t crazy.” California’s single-day record of $4.61 a gallon was set June 19, 2008. Toews isn’t alone in his forecast. Brian Milne, an energy analyst with commodity tracker Telvent DTN, predicts retail prices topping “$4 gallon nationally on their way to $5 gallon,” a price range echoed by many experts Wednesday. The average price in the Bay Area on Wednesday was $3.58 a gallon for gas and $3.90 a gallon for diesel, compared with nationwide averages of $3.19 and $3.58. Rising prices will likely pinch the wallets of more than drivers, experts warned… -- Not only do we have to worry about chaos in the Middle East causing gas prices to go up, we have to worry about President Obama’s policies and desire to see them go up. So much for caring about the middle class who will feel the rise in gas prices before anyone else.
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#1. To: no gnu taxes (#0)
It's about time we got another reminder of what it was like during the Bush inquisition. It was August of 2000 when I bought gas for $1.07 at a Short Stop. I just found the receipt while rummaging around looking for tax stuff.
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