Oil Watchdog

04/27/07 by dugan

 Oilwatchdog’s buddy known as “Insider” tells us that gasoline stations are seeing 10-cent-a-gallon increases this week in the gasoline delivered to them by oil companies. It’s more than one company and looks like “systemwide increases,” says Insider. (Sources in the Midwest say dealers report a 13-cent increase there).

 Here’s the math on what it means to Insider: “A branded dealer in Orange County (where prices for regular hit $3.33 today, up 2.5 cents over yesterday) says that as of midweek, he was paying nearly $2.70 a gallon out of the delivery tank. Add federal and California taxes and it goes to $3.29. Then a 15% dealer margin (9% just for credit card fees, the rest to support the dealership) and it comes to $3.45 a gallon or more.

“If similar increases are hitting other states, the U.S. average will be above $3.00 by Wednesday at the latest. California (averaging over $3.36 today, per AAA) will certainly bust last year’s record of $3.38 in the next few days. And that’s before hurricane season starts in the Gulf of Mexico.”

  Thanks a bunch, Insider. With San Francisco already paying over $3.50 on average, these leaps will push the city over $4.00 at every station in no time. What we need is a lottery on what the price has to hit, or how much damage energy inflation must do to the economy, before Congress and state lawmakers end their slumber.