CAPITAL REGION Gas prices inching toward $3 a gallon once more BY SARA FOSS Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Sara Foss at 395-3193 or sfoss@dailygazette. net.
With little fanfare, gas prices are steadily creeping closer to $3 per gallon. According to AAA Northway, last week, the average price of gas in the Capital Region was $2.92 per gallon. That’s a jump from the start of the year, when gas was selling for $2.80 per gallon. Nationally, prices are about 16.3 cents higher than a month ago and about 96 cents higher than they were a year ago. “In the past two weeks, the cost of gas has actually been higher than at any point in 2009,” said Eric Stigberg, a spokesman for AAA Northway. Gas prices surged in 2008, hitting $4 per gallon for the first time ever that July. But in 2009, the price of gas remained relatively low, never breaking the $3-per-gallon threshold in the Capital Region. During the last six months of the year, the price of gas in the Capital Region hovered between $2.60 and $2.83 per gallon. Stigberg said that in recent years, drivers have grown accustomed to higher gas prices, but they start to worry when gas hits $3 per gallon. “That tends to be a psychological barrier,” he said. “When gas hits $3 a gallon, people change their habits. We’re not quite there yet.” On Tuesday, the government said gasoline should average $2.84 per gallon this year, up from $2.35 per gallon last year. Gas prices are closely linked to the price of crude oil. But the price of oil has been falling, the result of forecasts for warmer weather and signs that U.S. consumers are still suffering from a prolonged recession. Benchmark crude for February delivery dropped $1.39 to $78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Analysts expect demand to remain low. ................>>>>.........................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01202&AppName=1
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