THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 30, 1996 TAG: 9604300337
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY AND ALISON BOLOGNA, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Because she puts 50 miles a day on her aging Chevy Belaire, Carol Young of Virginia Beach rings up $20 every three days at the gas pump.
``I think the prices are outrageous,'' she said Monday as she pumped regular unleaded - at $1.28 a gallon - at the Thalia Exxon on Virginia Beach Boulevard.
``I don't think it's right. It's like they're soaking us,'' she said.
Seemingly every day sees another increase in pump prices in Hampton Roads as the cost of gasoline nationally reaches the highest point since the start of the Gulf War at the beginning of the decade.
In fact, prices at many service stations along Virginia Beach Boulevard jumped a penny Sunday night and another penny Monday night.
Nationwide, prices are up about 10 percent from a year ago, with regular gas selling for an average of $1.24 a gallon. Most of the increase has come since February.
In midsummer, prices should peak at about $1.36, according to some analysts.
The outcry is loud enough to make gas prices a presidential campaign issue. Sen. Bob Dole last week called for repeal of the 4.3 percent federal gas tax passed in 1993.
The chief culprit, says the American Automobile Association, is the long, harsh winter, which forced oil companies to focus on producing home heating oil and left gasoline supplies lower. Then demand, partly fueled by gas-hungry sport utility vehicles and more per capita driving, kicked in.
And oil purchasers let their stocks run low, expecting a flood of oil from Iraq. But a deal lifting the U.N embargo on Iraqi oil fell through.
``Unfortunately, the demand for gas hit us sooner than expected and the supply was not there to take care of it,'' said Joe Loan, manager of Thalia Exxon.
Although a few discount stations were beating them by a nickel, many service stations in South Hampton Roads checked in Monday at $1.27 for regular, $1.39 for midgrade and $1.45 for premium.
Hampton Roads may be a bit higher than the national average, but local prices haven't reached those in places like California where premium gas has hit $2 a gallon.
Allen and Kathy Palmer wonder where the beef is. Last week, they drove down to Virginia Beach from Pawtucket, R.I., where prices are significantly higher.
``We're not even thinking about the prices yet, but once we buy a house here we'll probably look up and say, ahh!'' said Kathy, glancing back at the gas pump.
Although there are not the long gas lines and skyrocketing prices that marked the mid-1970s Arab oil embargo, the slow price rise is sparking customer complaints.
The complainers don't care about the subtleties of international spot prices.
``A lot of people think the money's going in our pockets, but the dealers are are making the same money - 7 cents a gallon - whether it's $1.50 a gallon or 99 cents a gallon,'' said Eric Svedberg, owner of Kempsville Amoco on Princess Anne Road in Virginia Beach.
And some owners are not sure where the bottom line is.
``Everybody's concerned because we don't know who's behind pushing the prices up,'' said Clyde Price, manager of Holly Point Texaco in Chesapeake.
``We're all losing money because the prices go up before we're notified. We want to know where it's going and when it will stop,'' Price said.
Wholesale prices are still ahead of retail. There is generally a two-week lag between the two.
Wholesalers are feeling the pinch, too.
Jeff Miller, vice president at Miller Oil Co., said wholesale companies are having to sell below cost at times because the price is going up so fast.
``It's difficult to raise the street price as fast as wholesale when it's going up,'' he said.
Mary Lou Baker had just paid $1.46 for premium at Thalia Exxon and was furious. She had just arrived here for funeral services with her family from Hackensack, N.J., where low gas taxes have meant lower prices.
``I think it's terrible, because everything goes up but paychecks. When they put prices up like this, they're not thinking about working people.''
Complaints or not, there doesn't seem to be much choice.
As E.W. Timmons, a spokesman for the American Automobile Dealers Association, put it, ``People just have to pay it. They have to drive their cars. There's no alternative.'' MEMO: The New York Times contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Warily watching gas prices rise
BETH BERGMAN
The Virginian-Pilot
``I think the prices are outrageous,'' Carol Young of Virginia Beach
said Monday as she pumped regular unleaded - at $1.28 a gallon - at
the Thalia Exxon on Virginia Beach Boulevard. ``I don't think it's
right. It's like they're soaking us.''
PUMP PRICES
SOURCE: AAA
VP Graphic
by CNB