But vacation driving is only one problem of gasoline prices and supplies. In the United States and abroad, a whole series of costs and changes will hit the business of gasoline and other fuels in the next several years.
Supplies are tight because there is almost no spare refining capacity.
Years of poor returns on investment led companies to close refineries and depart the business. One result is that the United States now imports 6 percent of its refined gasoline to relieve shortages. New environmental regulations across the United States and in Europe are going to force major changes in the refining business in the next three to four years, reports analyst Douglas Terreson of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. After lagging behind the United States in environmental concerns, Europe is now mandating the use of unleaded gasoline and imposing stern restrictions on sulfur in gasoline and diesel fuel. In the United States, starting in California, the additive MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is going to be taken out of gasoline.