Gas prices surge 14 cents in a week

Motorists who filled their tanks at local gas stations last week might have been shocked to see their totals rise well above what they were paying earlier in the month.

As of yesterday, gas prices for the Baltimore metropolitan area, which includes Anne Arundel County, were about $2.58 per gallon of regular unleaded fuel.

That's a 14-cent increase from the average for a gallon just one week before.

Across the nation, it's a similar story. The average price per gallon nationwide yesterday, at $2.67, was a bit higher than in this region, and was 12 cents above last week's $2.55 per gallon.

AAA Mid-Atlantic, a consumer auto club for Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, said the rate at which crude oil is being traded now has set a new high for the year.

The price spike, market watchers said, can be traced back to investor behavior. Investors have seen a surge in corporate earnings and may be acting on signs that the economy is recovering.

Many crude-oil investors are wagering that, though supply is still weak, the demand for oil and gas will soon pick up again, experts said.

Ragina C. Averella, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said if crude oil prices continue to rise in this manner, prices at the pump won't be leveling off soon.

But according to the Energy Information Administration's recently released winter-outlook report, the price of oil for home heating isn't expected to follow suit. The agency said home-heating oil will be about 2 percent less on average than last year.

Still, officials emphasize that prices throughout the oil market "remain volatile, reflecting uncertainty or risk."

Christine Delise, a AAA spokeswoman, said the auto club is attributing the recent spike solely to a crude-oil rally. And though some might believe the gas increases are timed to coincide with Thanksgiving travel, Delise said that doesn't seem to be the case.

Delise said that over the past five years for the Mid-Atlantic region, the staff has noticed that prices around the November holiday decline by a penny or two or remain stable.

"It seems that way - that we do see a trend upward sometimes with the busy summer holidays, like July Fourth," she said. "You might think the same with Thanksgiving and Christmas, too, but prices actually tend to be low in November."

Either way, Richard Owens, an Annapolis resident, said that won't be a problem for him for the holiday because his family is local. But he said that, because his job requires that he commute from the city to Baltimore every day, he feels the pinch of high gas prices on a regular basis.

Owens was at the Exxon on West Street yesterday, where regular unleaded gas was about $2.65 a gallon.

"I never really fill up, I just get it as I need it," he said.

Felicia Smith, another Annapolis resident, was at the Citgo station across West Street, where regular unleaded also was $2.65 per gallon.

Smith, however, doesn't fill her tank with regular. She said she uses the middle-grade fuel for her car.

"But this car is supposed to have the premium," she said.

What worries her more than car fuel prices is when oil prices for home heating - such as those for natural gas and heating oil - start creeping up.

"When oil goes up and my bill rises at home, that's when it really hits me," she said.

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GAS PRICE ROUNDUP

AAA has a new feature at www.aaamidatlantic.com/PGA/FuelConservation that allows users to quickly check average prices throughout the region. Here's a look at average prices yesterday
 around the county:

Annapolis - $2.61   
Glen Burnie    - $2.58
Crofton    - $2.63   
Lothian    - $2.59
Deale - $2.62   
Odenton    - $2.58
Edgewater - $2.63   
Severna Park - $2.55