The traditional summer driving season is about a month away, but gasoline prices are already heating up to near-record levels, cutting into commuters' wallets and raising the specter of more expensive summer vacations. Over the past four weeks, State Energy Office figures show that the price of regular unleaded gasoline has increased 21 cents. While gas is costing everyone more, the sharp rise in prices appears to be affecting Rhode Islanders in different ways. During previous gas spikes, such as the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s, Annette Sunderland said she cut down on driving to save money.
Every day there's a new reason why it goes up or down.
Some industry analysts blame tight fuel supplies for the price increases, particularly as many states, including Rhode Island and Massachusetts, switch to reformulated gasoline for the spring and summer months as required by environmental regulations aimed at reducing smog. But, while supply is lower nationally, supplies of reformulated gasoline in New England were up 24 percent to 3.1 million barrels for the week that ended April 20, an increase of 41 percent over last year, the API reported. Gasoline and crude-oil inventories are expected to remain below normal levels throughout the summer, according to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, a prospect that helped push gasoline futures to record levels last week. Beutel said he expects prices to peak sometime in the next three weeks. Supply disruptions or refinery shutdowns could send prices even higher, he said.