By Jeff Lipton and Jerry Burke
Russell Davis, pumping gas into his Ford Explorer across the station, was not as fortunate. "I have pay on my credit card because I sure as heck don't have this kind of cash on me," he said, watching the tally roll past $30. "And of course it happens right before a three-day weekend."
Gasoline prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks, leaving motorists with a bad case of sticker shock.
Some stations have been selling regular gas for close to $2 per gallon, which may be the highest price in more than 20 years. Premium gas in some locations has reached $2.15 per gallon. At some stations, customers have seen prices soar 20 to 40 cents per gallon in just a two-week period.
"It's crazy," said Davis. "Isn't this why we invaded Iraq?"
On a single day, Tuesday, Aug. 26, AAA surveys showed that gas prices increased 9 cents per gallon in New York State -- and 12 cents on Long Island -- one of the largest one-day spikes in state history. In Nassau County, as this week's Herald went to press, regular gas was selling for an average of $1.889 a gallon.
Gas prices historically jump around the Labor Day weekend, but this year's price increases are drawing many more drivers' attention.
"My sister tells me cheaper down in Florida," said Martha Stone, using the self serve at the Mobil Station on Westminster Road and Hempstead Turnpike in West Hempstead. "About $1.70 a gallon. I'm going down for a week and bringing an extra gas can with me."
A number of factors are being blamed for the sudden and quick rise. One is the Aug. 14 multistate blackout, which shut down a number of oil refineries in the region. A second factor was a broken pipeline in Arizona, which caused widespread shortages across the nation.
"We've all been hit in the pocketbook by skyrocketing gas prices," U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) said in a statement on Aug. 28. "With the blackout and summer vacation season behind us, however, we should see a serious drop in prices in the coming weeks. Until then, I would urge Long Islanders to conserve, carpool and use mass transit as much as possible.
"When I head back to Washington next week, Long Island's energy problems will be a top focus of mine."
Cathy Kenny, associate director of the New York State Petroleum Council, said that despite the high prices seen recently, gas is still 39 percent less expensive than it was in 1981, when the price reached $2.74 per gallon for regular. In 1981, the costs of distributing and marketing crude oil were much higher, Kenny said. "We have more technology now," she said.
She traces the recent skyrocketing prices to the start of the war with Iraq, when crude oil prices rose from $25 to $32 a barrel. She added that the blackout closed down seven refineries across the Northeast, and it took them about 24 hours to get back on track after the blackout ended. She also attributed the rising prices to civil unrest in Nigeria and worker strikes in Venezuela. "It's been a confluence of events," Kenny said.
Kenny added that August traditionally is a month with increasing demand, because people travel on their summer vacations. But this August there was even more demand due to a wet July, when many vacationers postponed their trips.
New Yorkers also pay the third-highest amount in state and federal taxes, a combined 47 cents per gallon.
Kenny explained that gas prices are set by the dealer, and that individual stations do have some say in the final price. "They control the margin of the price on the street level," she said.
State Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick), chairman of the Consumer Protection Committee, has asked state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to look into the sudden spike in gasoline prices. He said a gallon of gas has ballooned from $1.60 to $2 in under a month at some stations. The senator called it "unjust."
"In today's economy, even a slight bump in the price of gasoline will cause problems for the drivers of Long Island," he said. "But the increases we have seen in the last month will cause many to cut short vacations and to have increased trouble paying their bills. I am not going to allow these companies to get rich on the backs of New Yorkers É And it now seems that the recent blackout is their latest excuse to raise prices."
He added that gas prices always seem to rise when most drivers are taking road trips with their families, around the Labor Day weekend.
Across the country, drivers are feeling the pinch at the pump. A Lundberg Survey of 8,000 gas station in the U.S. found an average price, for all grades, of $1.7484 per gallon, which is nearly an all-time high, officials said.
That knowledge hardly eases the pain at local gas stations, where residents are having a hard time believing the soaring prices. "This is bull (expletive deleted)!" exclaimed one newly licensed driver at the West Hempstead Mobil station. "I finally get to drive and I can't even afford it anyway."
One mother did put the prices into perspective, though. "It's still cheaper than a gallon of milk," she noted. Last week, according to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, the maximum price stores can charge for a gallon of milk rose by 47 cents to an average $3.16 a gallon. "Prices go up, and the money just keeps disappearing. What can you do?"
