Gasoline price rise hinging on Ike
Gasoline price rise hinging on Ike

By Debbie Blossom

Published: September 13, 2008

The price of gasoline at some Oklahoma City retailers rose at least 10 cents Friday in anticipation of Hurricane Ike slamming into Texas.

Some fuel retailers have bumped up prices from $3.37 and $3.39 a gallon to $3.47 and $3.49, said Chuck Mai, public information officer for AAA Oklahoma. "But even in light of that prices have remained stable in the metro area.”

Yet many retailers selling gas from $3.25 to $3.30 "have stayed in that range,” Mai said. "It's a mixed bag.”

How much prices will continue to climb in the next several days will depend on the extent of Ike's destruction, but regardless of the damage, prices will probably increase some, he said.

"This is literally the calm before the storm, and we don't know how bad the storm will be.

"By Saturday morning, we might see $4 a gallon, or we might see no change,” Mai said.

Ike is expected to hit between midnight Friday and 2 a.m. Saturday as a Category 3 hurricane near Galveston, which is about 50 miles southeast of Houston, where about one-fifth of U.S. refining capacity is located. As of Friday, nearly 98 percent of crude production and more than 94 percent of natural gas production in the Gulf were shuttered, according to the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service.

Crude oil on the futures market, however, briefly sank below the psychologically important $100-a-barrel mark for the first time since April 2 — showing that investors believe a worsening global economy will continue to drive down demand for some time in the United States and elsewhere.

Jim Brown, owner of 7-Eleven convenience stores in the metro area, said wholesale fuel prices have gone up. "We were told by our suppliers that there might be supply issues this weekend while the hurricane passes through.”

But Brown said whatever transpires with Ike over the next 24 to 48 hours "will go away.” Any blip in prices is temporary, he added. "I truly don't think this is an event.”

A spokeswoman with the Oklahoma Attorney General's office said the department hasn't received any complaints of price gouging. Complaints can be made by calling 521-2029.

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