Oil industry observers disagree on why gasoline prices are rising, but they agree on this: You’ll soon be paying more.
Scenarios for how the bad news will come are plentiful:
• Trouble with Iran will disrupt European supplies, especially if there is an attempt to block the Strait of Hormuz.
• Refineries will close on the East Coast, and gasoline will be diverted from Ohio and the rest of the Midwest.
• The economy will spike, increasing gasoline demand and thereby raising prices.
All of these cases would lead to consumers paying more.
Terry Flemming of the Ohio Petroleum Council sees it a little differently.
“The most likely long-term impact on gas prices is not going to be what happens in Iran or the refineries in the East Coast, it’s going to be if we make an economic recovery and how fast that recovery comes,” he said.
Flemming can’t make predictions because he represents refineries and could be accused of price-fixing, but he is confident they will be going up.
Another spike will be the result of the annual switch refiners make to summer-grade fuel, a practice that reduces supply and increases prices.
Flemming said most people would accept the trade-off of a better economy for increased demand for gasoline and higher prices.
“I’d rather have a job and pay a little bit more at the pump,” he said. “I mean, let’s say it goes up 20 cents at the pump — and I’m not saying it should or it’s a good thing. [But] if you have a 10 gallon tank, that’s what? $2. If I’ve been unemployed for some time, I’d rather see the economy rebound.”
Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said refineries in Chicago recently increased the wholesale prices from $2.31 per gallon to $2.72. That price does not include taxes or the cost of shipping the fuel.
“Refineries in the Great Lakes are doing very well, especially because they are supplied with this cheap Canadian crude, so they are doing very well,” DeHaan said.
At the end of the supply line are Jeff Brummel and a lot of other area residents.
Brummel, a 58-year-old Tallmadge resident, was pumping regular-grade gasoline into his vehicle at a rate of $3.49 a gallon at an Akron station Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m not one of those who are conspiracy theorists [who] think it’s the oil company,” he said. “It’s all supply and demand.”
His way of fighting back is to scout for prices.
“If it’s a nickel less, I’ll go there,” he said.
TreVon Bayless, 20, was putting in just enough to get from a Tallmadge Avenue station to Akron’s west side.
“By the time summer gets here, I’ll probably be riding a scooter,” he said. “This is ridiculous.”
Inside the station store, clerk John Liska said he has a simple answer when customers complain about the prices.
“I say, ‘We get it from corporate.’ ”
Dave Scott can be reached at 330-996-3577 or davescott@thebeaconjournal.com.