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As gas creeps above $3, 'petro-noia' strikes
Motorists are conditioned to expect rising pump prices as the summer travel season nears. This year, the climb has begun earlier than usual.

By MSN Money staff with wire reports
Gasoline prices have topped $3 a gallon in parts of California and Hawaii, and may hit that level elsewhere in the country as the busy summer driving season approaches.

Crude-oil prices were low throughout December because of unseasonably warm weather throughout much of the country. But crude, which makes up about half the price of gasoline, is back above $60 a barrel. Additionally, higher demand, refinery maintenance and fears about springtime shortages are driving up prices.

"It kills me," said Gloria Nunez, 53, as she filled her Ford Explorer SUV at a San Jose, Calif., gas station. Nunez, a clerk for a communications company, has started working a couple hours of overtime each week to help soften the blow.

"All of a sudden you kind of have to watch your pennies," Nunez said.

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Analysts say drivers should brace for more increases in the coming weeks.

"The West Coast will certainly be the wild, wild West this year," said Tom Kloza, the chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service.

Extensive maintenance work at West Coast refineries has curtailed supplies and exacerbated the typical "preseason rally" spurred by jitters about tight supplies.


"In the rest of the country, it's just petro-noia. They're worried that they won't have enough gasoline," Kloza said. "But on the West Coast the concern might be warranted."

Still below historic highs
Barring a major disruption in supply, it's unlikely other parts of the country will see $3 gasoline before summer, analysts said. Average fuel prices are still below their historical highs -- most of which were set in 2006 -- but have begun to climb weeks earlier than usual.

Video: The gas-crude conundrum

According to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report, prices nationwide have risen about 32 cents in the past month. Utah and Wyoming reported the cheapest regular gasoline prices, at less than $2.30 a gallon. Regular gas was well above $3 in Northern California, hitting $3.12 in San Francisco.

The record nationwide average is $3.05 a gallon, set just after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. Prices came within pennies of those levels last summer as well.

Gas prices by state State Regular Premium Diesel State Regular Premium Diesel
Alaska
$2.35
$2.63
$2.75
Montana
$2.35
$2.57
$2.76

Alabama
$2.40
$2.65
$2.58
North Carolina
$2.47
$2.74
$2.65

Arkansas
$2.40
$2.70
$2.58
North Dakota
$2.51
$2.69
$2.79

Arizona
$2.50
$2.76
$2.80
Nebraska
$2.56
$2.69
$2.73

California
$2.96
$3.21
$3.06
New Hampshire
$2.46
$2.76
$2.66

Colorado
$2.46
$2.75
$2.75
New Jersey
$2.38
$2.65
$2.55

Connecticut
$2.66
$2.96
$2.82
New Mexico
$2.47
$2.74
$2.86

District of Columbia
$2.51
$2.75
$2.86
Nevada
$2.67
$2.91
$2.84

Delaware
$2.47
$2.74
$2.70
New York
$2.69
$2.93
$2.87

Florida
$2.55
$2.82
$2.72
Ohio
$2.46
$2.73
$2.70

Georgia
$2.41
$2.71
$2.62
Oklahoma
$2.39
$2.61
$2.56

Hawaii
$2.87
$3.09
$3.45
Oregon
$2.64
$2.83
$2.72

Iowa
$2.46
$2.71
$2.67
Pennsylvania
$2.56
$2.82
$2.76



Idaho
$2.32
$2.52
$2.78
Rhode Island
$2.54
$2.79
$2.75

Illinois
$2.54
$2.81
$2.78
South Carolina
$2.35
$2.62
$2.53




Indiana
$2.47
$2.73
$2.69
South Dakota
$2.46
$2.72
$2.72

Kansas
$2.47
$2.63
$2.70
Tennessee
$2.37
$2.63
$2.55

Kentucky
$2.42
$2.71
$2.57
Texas
$2.38
$2.61
$2.60

Louisiana
$2.41
$2.69
$2.60
Utah
$2.26
$2.49
$2.75

Massachusetts
$2.49
$2.77
$2.70
Virginia
$2.39
$2.60
$2.61

Maryland
$2.48
$2.71
$2.70
Vermont
$2.53
$2.84
$2.79

Maine
$2.58
$2.86
$2.74
Washington
$2.63
$2.86
$2.85

Michigan
$2.51
$2.77
$2.73
Wisconsin
$2.56
$2.78
$2.76

Minnesota
$2.45
$2.62
$2.72
West Virginia
$2.56
$2.81
$2.75

Missouri
$2.37
$2.61
$2.57
Wyoming
$2.28
$2.53
$2.69


Mississippi
$2.39
$2.63
$2.53
U.S. average
$2.51
$2.76
$2.70

:feedback: :rant:

Oklahoma's price for regular...$2.39 (actually its $2.37 over here to be precise). Thats why we arent complaining...yet. I heard that many of the oil rigs in the Gulf have still been out of commission since Katrina. Hopefully they speed up the Sakhalin Island project. I know if they do, that will probably relieve the world of the headache of raising oil prices.

TN's averages are about right....but since ten cents a gallon increase only makes about a 1.40 change in my fillup price I don't lose sleep over it. Now, if I had chosen something like an Excursion as a DD(as some folks I know have) I might be a little more concerned. The XRS gets about 26-28 mpg in the city with lots of stop and go traffic.

This is truck and SUV country around here. It almost seems like a requirement to have a full size pickup or very large SUV...you rarely see anyone with a kid in a car anymore. Needless to say, when gas prices go up, local business revenues go down since so many folks are DD'ing vehicles that suck down fuel. People bitch and moan about fuel and not being able to pay their bills and whatnot whilst filling up a 25+ gallon tank twice a week just to carry 1 person around town...and I just laugh.

Don't like it? Sell your car. I never understand why people bitch and moan about gas prices and "evil oil companies" yet continue to keep driving.

I couldn't agree more ... if you need the space because you have six kids but bitch about the gas prices maybe you shouldn't have so many kids. I mean people need to plan for shit like this. Honestly. If you're truck is bigger than the height of your house you have MAJOR issues. And I am sure you people know what I am referring too ... *chuckles*

I see tons of single folks with no kids riding around town in Suburbans and such too. It's one thing if you tow a trailer for a car or boat or actually need the cargo space, but it's quite another when you never even take the thing off a paved road. You've got no one to blame but yourself for purchasing a vehicle that's too expensive to maintain.

Another thing I've noticed recently is that every car/SUV wreck I've come upon has left the SUV flipped over on the roof or side and the car on all fours. The SUV occupants take the ambulance ride, not the folks in the car. I guess it's because the car acts like a little prybar under the SUV in anything other than a dead on front or rear collision. So, not only are you broke from putting fuel in it, you also lose the "but it's safer up here" debate if hit in the side by a car.

My mom use to own a small car (I wont say what kind cuz it was embarassing, lol). She then upgraded to an SUV in 2001....a Honda Passport. She said she will never go back to owning a car. She says she feels safe in it because of how bulky it is (blah blah...but SUVs can flip over...blah blah, w/e). She also likes the fact that when she sits in her SUV, that she feels like she can see the road better being higher than what she would be in a car. Fueling it costs around $40 at $2/gallon but she already knew that she would be paying more for gas and put that into consideration when she bought it....

I drive an average of 450-500 miles per week (sometimes more), so paying an average of $2.40/gallon is pretty killer sometimes. :sad: