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Pain at the pump grows

We're wincing now, but in a few months we'll feel wistful for $3.14 gas, experts say.

By James Thorner, Times Staff Writer
Published February 23, 2008

When your family's fuel bill flirts with $800 a month, you notice little announcements like "highest gasoline prices of all time."

Here's Charlene Brazzeal's reaction upon hearing the Tampa Bay area broke a record Friday with average gas prices of $3.145 per gallon:

"Oh, my God. That's getting more like England. It's $5 a gallon there. That's just not right," the Valrico resident said as she mulled the fuel thirst of her Acura SUV and her husband's Toyota Tundra pickup.

Hundred-dollar-per-barrel crude oil prices, partly caused by a speculative fever among commodities traders, have worked their way to Florida with a vengeance.

Every Florida metro area monitored by the American Automobile Association, except for Fort Lauderdale, shattered fuel price records Friday.

Florida's average price rose to $3.196 per gallon - also a record. The nation as a whole was still more than a dime short of the $3.227 high point of last May. Florida's statewide gas prices, which last September equaled the nation's average, are now running well above the national average.

Adjusting for inflation, though, the United States still has a bit go to surpass the $3.41 record set in March 1981.

But considering AAA predicts $3.75 per gallon gasoline by the Fourth of July, even that 27-year-old record is in jeopardy.

"We're only into February, so stay tuned," said Jon Cogan of the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

As fuel prices test new heights, Americans' vacation habits are under scrutiny. About one third of respondents in a recent AAA survey said they would shorten trips if gas reached $3.25 a gallon. Retirees were even more tight with their dollars. About 41 percent would tinker with travel if gas prices spike.

The Brazzeals are typical of the newly fuel-conscious. Charlene, 63, and her husband Charles, 64, combine shopping trips and carpool when possible. They flew rather than drove to Washington, D.C., during a December trip. Once in the capital, they rode the rails on the city's Metro system.

But as the AAA survey also made clear, more than a quarter of people will keep on trucking no matter what a gallon of gasoline costs.

Charles Brazzeal sees that at his Goodyear franchise in Tampa's West Shore district. Habits haven't changed much among his largely well-heeled corporate customer base.

"Back in the '70s people really lined up for tune-ups to get better gas mileage. Nowadays it just doesn't happen," he said.

To lighten his own fuel bill, Brazzeal fills up all his personal and business vehicles at Sam's Club.

"It's got to save me 10 cents to 15 cents a gallon," he said. "That's a big deal when your gas bill is $800 a month."

Gas watch
The price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the Tampa Bay area:
Friday - $3.145
Thursday - $3.104
Month ago - $3.034
Year ago - $2.242
Record - $3.145*
* Record set Friday
Source: AAA/Oil Price Information Service

CHEAP GAS: To find the cheapest prices where you live, visit money.tampabay.com

James Thorner can be reached at thorner@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3313.

[Last modified February 22, 2008, 22:38:50]