HAMILTON– For the first time in six weeks the average price of a gallon of gasoline fell at the pumps. The timing couldn’t be better as area drivers take short trips for spring break and to celebrate the Holiday Weekend.
The retreat, albeit modest, in pump prices comes two weeks after fuel costs soared to the 2010 high of $2.82. Gasoline prices remained relatively unchanged overnight in some locations. Despite this encouraging note, crude oil appears to be operating in “parallel universe” of sorts. Crude oil futures surpassed its 18-month high this morning. However, this “alternate reality” is likely to be short-lived, some traders and energy analysts think. As a rule of thumb, there is “often a lag before crude oil prices are reflected in retail gasoline prices.”
“Finally, a break at the pumps. The dip in fuel prices – the first since the back-to-back snowstorms that socked the East Coast in February – comes just in time for the Easter holiday weekend,” said Tracy E. Noble, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “A lot of families take a vacation around Easter and spring break (typically defined as the week prior to and after Easter Sunday). So enjoy this slight break in prices while you can and take advantage of this beautiful weekend.”
Gas Prices As Of March April 2, 2010
(Full-serve Regular)
Location | Price Today | Month Ago | Year Ago |
New Jersey | $2.63 | $2.56 | $1.87 |
Atlantic/Cape May | $2.63 | $2.55 | $1.87 |
Middlesex/Somerset/Hunterdon | $2.64 | $2.56 | $1.88 |
Monmouth/Ocean | $2.62 | $2.54 | $1.86 |
South Jersey | $2.61 | $2.55 | $1.87 |
Trenton | $2.66 | $2.57 | $1.91 |
National | $2.81 | $2.70 | $2.05 |
All in all, pump prices across New Jersey are still significantly higher than they were a year ago and even a month ago, according to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report from AAA. However, gasoline prices are nowhere here their all-time of $4.11, which occurred in July 2008.
The run-up in fuel prices normally begins in April and May, as the refineries make the transition to produce summer gasoline blends or reformulated gasoline blends, as mandated by the Clean Air Act of 2009. Reformulated gasoline is used in major metropolitan areas from April through September, as required by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
What is more, in anticipation of greater demand gasoline prices also have a tendency to spike in the summer months, when more Americans travel and go on longer vacations, notes AAA Mid-Atlantic. However, traders and energy analysts attribute this week’s surge in crude price to “market volatility.” Generally, gasoline prices tend to track crude oil prices. For this reason, gasoline prices will “top $3.00 a gallon,” in all likelihood, market watchers says.
Analysts expect this to occur between April and June, as warm weather encourages more driving. The forecast also foresees fuel cost dropping to “as low as $2.50 after the summer driving season,” forecasts the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), which supplies daily fuel price data to AAA.
Because the United States imports more than 60 percent of its petroleum and is dependent upon the global oil country, some Virginians are pondering the impact of President Obama’s announcement that sets the stage for offshore oil exploration on portions of the East Coast, including coastal Virginia.
