Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, September 29, 2007 Rising gas prices likely to linger By Eric Fetters Herald Writer High gasoline prices usually fade away as children settle into their school day routines, gray skies return and nights get downright chilly. But entering this weekend, the average price for a gallon of gasoline locally is higher than during Labor Day weekend, which traditionally marks the end of the summer road-trip season. And experts are forecasting the cost of driving -- and heating for those with oil-burning furnaces -- aren't likely to go down much this autumn and winter. The average for regular unleaded fuel in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area was nearly $2.96 a gallon Friday, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Report. That's 17 cents above a month ago, and 27 cents above the price a year ago. The number of service stations charging above the $3-per-gallon mark has multiplied in the past two weeks. On Friday, one Union 76 in Lake Stevens was charging just below $3.10 a gallon. "Probably what we're seeing is the effect of crude oil prices. Lately, they've been setting records," said Frank Holmes, Northwest manager for the Western States Petroleum Association. Crude oil -- the basic ingredient for gasoline, heating oil and other fuel products -- rose to just under $84 a barrel on Sept. 20, the highest price ever on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Since then, traders have kept it closer to $80 a barrel. Relatively low inventories of gasoline, still-growing demand around the world and the seasonal shift for refineries from summer to winter blends of fuel aren't helping with prices, either, said Janet Ray, AAA's regional spokeswoman. Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, said crude oil prices may well set more records in the coming weeks. Then he foresees a slow, gradual fall in prices as the end of the year approaches. That doesn't mean gasoline will get cheap, however. Kloza's predicting this winter's low price for gasoline could easily be the "highest low" consumers have ever seen. Last year, fuel prices bottomed out around Snohomish County at about $2.20 a gallon before starting to rise uncharacteristically around Christmastime. High crude prices won't just keep gasoline prices relatively strong. Users of diesel and heating oil are likely to pay a high price, too. Even when gasoline fell to well under $3 a gallon, diesel prices have stayed high all summer. As of Friday, the regional average for diesel was still at $3.20 a gallon, according to AAA. Heating oil is also in that price neighborhood. Dan Knelleken, general manager of Sound Oil Co., said the retail price of heating oil was stable for months at $3 a gallon. In the past 10 days, however, it's moved up. Sound Oil now is charging about $3.20 a gallon, which is pretty typical for this region, he said. "Hopefully, it's not going to go too crazy this winter." Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.

1. Some stores, malls to get a jump on ‘Black Friday' 2. $6.5 million lottery ticket purchased in Lake Stevens 3. Fire displaces Arlington family 4. Everett man will take his do-it-yourself ethic to the grave 5. Inmates with mental illness bring extra costs to Monroe prison 6. When the customer is wrong and a jerk 7. Mayor-elect won over Granite Falls 8. Economy may silence Everett Symphony's season 9. Soldier who had lived in Marysville killed in Afghanistan 10. Ongoing road work near schools worries parents 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Eat local this Thanksgiving • Mavericks moving on • Canada's Great Big Sea rolls into Edmonds • A. Murphy finishes 2nd in volleyball • Art Walk features music, demonstrations • EAT LOCAL: Getting the goods • Lynnwood HS history teacher Vic Bennet dies • Wildcats head to semis • CSO Chamber annual show slated Nov. 23 • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million