By Rachel Pritchett
The price of gas just keeps getting higher, with no end in sight.
Fueling the price spike, in part, is anticipation of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s announcement next week he’ll take steps to aid the sluggish economic recovery. That anticipation is pushing up the price of oil. A commentary today by CNN Money writer Paul La Monica was titled, “Oil near $100. Thanks a lot, Fed.” Here’s that piece:
http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/08/23/oil-economy-gas/
Couple that with the West Coast still experiencing supply and demand problems from the California refinery fire early this month, and we motorists are, well, stuck.
The average price of a gallon of unleaded today in Kitsap County is $4.00, up from $3.92 last week, and $3.61 a month ago. Washington’s average — also $4.00 — is third highest in the nation. Hawaii is first with $4.26 and California is second with $4.12, says AAA.
You’re welcome to post your best recommendation for getting gas locally here. It may or may not be different from the lowest-gas price list we have at kitsapsun.com. As for me, I’m using Fred Meyer on Wheaton Way, at present. This morning, I paid around $3.83 which included 3 cents off per gallon with my Rewards card. With a 52-mile round-trip daily commute between Bainbridge and Bremerton, for many years I used the Masi Shop or Longhouse on Highway 305 between Poulsbo and Agate Pass. But the price at those place this morning was around $3.98.
Others in the newsroom like the ARCO on Wheaton, which was $3.86 this morning.
The state with the lowest gas prices today was South Carolina, where the precious liquid was going for $3.44 a gallon.
Ouch.
