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Tri-Cities gasoline prices stabilize

After a three-week spike, gas prices in the Tri-Cities stabilized this week with only marginal half-cent increases at the pump, according to AAA East Tennessee.

AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report for the period ending Nov. 4 stated all but one East Tennessee city between Kingsport and Knoxville saw changes of less than one cent in the regular retail price for unleaded.

The continued impact of the weakened U.S. dollar on oil and other major markets is still having an effect on the trading market, according AAA East Tennessee public affairs specialist Stephanie Milani.

“Oil prices continue to defy the traditional supply and demand fundamentals at (the current prices for unleaded),” she said.

Kingsport’s Fuel Finder average, which also includes the price at three stations in neighboring Virginia, was reported at $2.54 per gallon, an increase of nine-tenths of a cent during the past week.

Johnson City had the highest price in the Tri-Cities, with regular unleaded selling for an average price of $2.57 per gallon, also up nine-tenths of a cent.

Bristol was the only locale that experienced a decrease, but a minimal one at just one-tenth of a cent and an average price of $2.56 per gallon at 22 stations.

Drivers in the Tri-Cities experienced a bit of a break at the pump in comparison with the national average retail price of $2.65 per gallon — the highest average for all of 2009 and 29 cents higher than one year ago, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The jump in gasoline costs mirrors the run-up in crude oil prices during October. The price of U.S. oil rose about $10 a barrel from the beginning of the month to the third week of October.

“Usually it takes about a week or two for the full (crude oil) price effect to get passed through (to the pump),” EIA senior analyst Doug MacIntyre told the Reuters news agency.

Every $1 rise in the cost of a barrel of crude adds about 2.4 cents to the price of a gallon of gasoline, he said. As a result, the pump price should rise about 24 cents due to the recent higher oil costs, and so far gasoline has increased almost 23 cents, according to MacIntyre.

“Without a further rise in crude oil prices, we’re getting close to the peak on gasoline prices, if not there (already),” he said.

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