The Virginian-Pilot
©
It's a record that will leave you - and your wallet - feeling a little empty.
Virginians have spent more for gasoline this year than ever before, AAA said.
As of Friday, a family in the commonwealth spent an average of $4,554, AAA said. That tops the previous one-year high of $4,340 in 2008. No averages were available for Hampton Roads.
The price of regular gas averaged $3.12 a gallon in the region Friday, AAA said. That was a nickel higher than the average the previous Friday and 17 cents more than the $2.95 average a year ago.
The one-day high for regular in Hampton Roads this year was $3.92 on May 12 and May 13, according AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. That didn't come close to eclipsing the region's record high of $3.99 on July 16, 2008.
So why was the gas bill higher this year than in 2008? "On a day-to-day basis, we paid more for gas on average" in 2011, said Georjeane Blumling, a spokeswoman for AAA Tidewater.
The price bump hasn't much affected Sal's Pizzeria by Maurizio in downtown Suffolk, which doesn't do deliveries. But it's forcing manager Kyle Tierney to change his living arrangement.
Tierney, 25, figured he's spent $4,800 on gas this year. He drives more than 70 miles every day he works, he said, going from his home in the Green Run area of Virginia Beach to the Suffolk pizzeria and back. That's "definitely one the biggest factors" in his decision to move to Suffolk next month after living in Virginia Beach for most of his life.
"I don't understand why it fluctuates so much," he said of the price of gas. "The powers that be, I think they're just money-hungry, and they know everyone here needs the gas."
The Hampton Roads average price for regular remains below the national and statewide averages, $3.27 and $3.17, respectively. But price trends have been similar across the country.
After a sharp jump early in the year, prices started falling in May, which is typical of early summer, said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst in Chicago for GasBuddy.com, which tracks prices in more than 200 cities.
They have risen in the last week or two, he said, because of fears of instability caused by the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, the portal for one-sixth of the world's oil supply.
Even if Iran doesn't block the strait, DeHaan said, he sees no relief for the first half of 2012.
He predicted that prices will gradually rise through Memorial Day, when "some areas could see them well into the $4 range."
Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
We have it pretty good
While this story may be shocking to people who never drive out of the Hampton Roads area, we don't have it so bad. As the story mentioned, it did not break out the difference in money spent by area (NOVA vs Richmond vs Tidewater.)
As someone who travels all over the country frequently, I can state that our gas prices are considerably less than many other metropolitan areas in the country...especially NOVA. In the final analysis, if they left NOVA out of the calculations, the amount spent for the average Virginian would be much less.
Big trucks
Everyone complains about gas, but there are 90lb soccer moms everywhere driving full sized SUV's to put their groceries in. And the guys have 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks with mega cabs and there is nothing in the bed of the truck or no trailer.
Obama and congressional Democrats
are working as hard as they can to make you pay even more next year.
http://hamptonroads.com/2012/01/obama-congress-begin-2012-oil-pipeline-dispute
Environmental extremism isn't cheap.
Price of gas
With the new tolls coming to our area, driving is going to be very expensive.It would have been much easier and cheaper for us to have increased the gas tax in the state of Virginia. North Carolina has a higher gas tax and much better roads and as of yet no toll roads that I know about.
WOW
I just checked our checking account registers and charge card records and found that we spent approx. $5100 in 2011 for gas. Wow!! I don't think that we do a whole lot of wasteful driving around. Thankfully, the largest amount of milage was put on the 36-40 mpg Toyota Corolla and I've been thinking about selling it because we have 1 vehicle too many. I can't think of many more ways to cut back than we have, so, oh well, here we go again in 2012. Before you get on me, I do know how to conserve gas. I rode one of ole Eddie Upton's buses to the Navy Yard, biked to work, car pooled and rode HRT the last 2 years of my gov't career. Spent only a few years, out of 37, driving by myself.
GAS PRICES SHOULD BE HIGHER
Actually gas prices should be higher than they are now. If we add an additional 25 cent tax per gallon of gas, the following might happen: people might car pool more; maybe we wouldn't be stuck with paying tolls to get around Hampton Roads in the upcoming years; and maybe the Governor wouldn't have to raid other areas of the State's budget to pay for improving road and filling potholes.
He already said , plain and clear...
Barrack Huessan(whatever)Obama wants the price of gas to go up gradually. He also wants your electric bill to "SKYROCKET
In a first, gas and other fuels are top US export
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_bi_ge/us_america_s_biggest_export
In a first, gas and other fuels are top US export
don't forget to say WHY!!!
The reason we export fuel is that the oil drilled from continental US is high in sulphur.
Environmentalist demanded that we don't use that diesel and gasoline here without thinking that if it is used in Europe, South America, China, or India that it is just as it is used HERE (we breathe the same air here as in New Dehli).
For the sake of principle, we don't use US oil.
Something to remember
next time we demand drilling for oil in everyone's backyard.
Oil companies do not care where the oil comes from, only where it goes, and that is to the highest bidder.
In the coming years, India and China, along with other developing countries, will be buying more and more oil to fuel their economies.
True, our drilling will add some to the total available world supply, but not much.
But the prices paid overseas determines what we pay here.
In other words, oil in America is not "American oil", but just part of the world market.
Exxon-Mobil will sell those barrels anywhere they can make the most profit.
That is what determines our gas pump prices.