1-09-08 by simpson
The highest average retail gasoline price ever for January was hit this week when it soared 5.6 cents to $3.11 a gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). It was 80.3 cents a gallon more than a year ago. With prices soaring in what traditionally is a time of lower prices, $4-a-gallon gasoline appears a certainty this spring.
The average price for regular grade in California climbed to 332.8 cents per gallon, 3 cents more than last week. With prices up in all regions of the country, the Midwest showed the biggest gain — 6.9 cents to 310.1 cents per gallon, 89.1 cents per gallon more than last year.
Tempering its forecast with a reference to Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds” EIA predicted a modest decline in oil prices in late 2008 and 2009 because of a predicted increase in non-OPEC oil production. The reference to “the King” came because EIA released its “Short-Term Energy Outlook” on Jan. 8, what would have been Presley’s 73rd birthday.
The EIA noted that many oil analysts have been consistently over predicting non-OPEC production and therefore their latest prognostication might prompt “suspicion” on the part of readers.
Good to know that the statisticians at EIA have a sense of humor and good grounding in popular culture, even if they can’t get their predictions right. It gives us a little something to chuckle about to ease the pain as we fill our gas tanks.