This post is from guest blogger Tom Kloza. Tom is Chief Oil Analyst at OPIS (Oil Price Information Service) and has his own blog. He has been writing about downstream oil markets since 1975 and was among the founders of OPIS over 25 years ago.
Within the next few days, America will cross a benchmark that I thought to be possible, but not necessarily probable this Spring. Well before Memorial Day weekend, U.S. motorists will spend more than $1.5-billion per day on gasoline.
Today’s back-of-the-envelope estimated bill, calculated against a national average price of $3.787 gal, is $1.486-billion. When we get to $3.82 gal nationally, we’ll cross $1.5-billion. That level is a virtual certainty based on recent wholesale price advances. It may even occur this weekend.
How does this compare to previous years?
The per diem charges Memorial Day last year saw motorists pay about $1.285-billion. In 2006, the cost was $1.122-billion; and in 2005, it was $832-million. If one goes back to 2002, the daily cost of gasoline was about $534-million. Before prices top out, we could be making $1-billion more per day in gasoline payments than we made six years ago.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/24666542Good thing the price of gas is not included in the official inflation rate .. cuz then the inflation rate might suck.
