DATE: Wednesday, August 13, 1997            TAG: 9708130965

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   40 lines

GASOLINE PRICES SPIKE AT A RATE NOT SEEN SINCE GULF WAR, AAA SAYS

If your change purse feels a bit lighter after last weekend's road trip, you may want to check the gas receipt.

The cost of fuel has risen sharply over the past two weeks, even for summertime when demand generally pushes gasoline prices up, according to an unscientific poll conducted by AAA.

Prices nationwide have gone up between 5 cents and 12 cents a gallon, based on anecdotal information, said Michael Morrissey, at AAA's headquarters in Orlando, Fla. Actual prices won't be in until August 19, when the automobile association's regular monthly survey is conducted.

Two weeks ago, drivers around the country were paying an average of $1.23 a gallon for unleaded gasoline at the self-service pump. Virginia's motorists were paying $1.14 a gallon.

``What drives gas prices is supply and demand, and there has been a strong demand this summer,'' Morrissey said. ``But you'd have to go back to the Gulf War to find this kind of a rise in prices in such a short amount of time.''

Morrissey said unplanned maintenance has shut down a number of gasoline producing facilities, reducing supply even further. At one facility in Bayway, N.J., a lightening strike caused damage that took 11 days to fix.

The last gas prices surge was in spring 1996 when the cost per gallon shot up 18 cents over three months.

This upsurge shouldn't last that long, Morrissey said. After Labor Day, children go back to school and families take fewer trips. Once demand drops, prices will follow.

Still, the impacts have been felt locally. Sam Seay, manager of Southern States gas station on South Military Highway, said his shop has been paying 8 cents to 10 cents more per gallon in recent weeks. With 11 other stations within a mile, he's raised prices only about 3 cents on unleaded gas to around $1.18 a gallon.

``No one wants to raise prices the highest because of competition, but no one wants to be the lowest either,'' he said. ``If the trend continues, there won't be much of a profit margin for the month.''

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu