As folks prepare for their travels over the river and through the woods, the government has some happy news for us (via Reuters):
U.S. consumers could pay record gasoline prices for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with pump costs expected to climb another 20 cents over the next two to three weeks, the government’s top energy forecaster warned on Monday.
Guy Caruso, who heads the U.S. Energy Information Administration, said not all of the recent jump in crude oil prices has been reflected in motor fuel costs which now top $3 a gallon in many parts of the country, about 80 cents more than a year ago.
“We haven’t seen the full pass-through (of high oil prices) yet,” Caruso told reporters at a briefing on oil market conditions held at Energy Department headquarters. “I would say what’s in the pipe right now (for gasoline) is about another 20 cents.”
I’m writing this just before hitting the road for a day trip to Boston. Gas prices locally are now high enough that strategy comes into play when planning such a trip. I know, for example, that gas prices generally run $0.20/gallon lower on the MassPike than in the gas stations closest to home in CT; and the stations by my office are $0.30-$0.35/gallon cheaper than home. Thus, it becomes an interesting exercise in planning where/when it’s most sensible for me to top off the fuel tank.
With one of the major driving holidays almost upon us, I can’t help but wonder if there’s now demand for trip-planning software, or GPS navigation units, to start including software…or hooks to online fuel price databases…to make such optimization easier.
