March 03, 2008 04:55 pm
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There’s good news and then there’s the bad news.
The good news is Missouri was one of only two states in the country with gasoline under $3 a gallon Monday afternoon, according to Mike Right, vice president of public affairs for AAA.
The bad news is that it probably won’t last much longer.
The dark view of gasoline’s future is based on both crude oil and diesel prices hitting record highs Monday.
According to Right, the same barrel of crude oil that cost Americans $60 last year, cost $103 Monday. That’s an 80 percent increase. Diesel prices hit a record high $3.67 a gallon national average.
“Diesel looks like it’s headed for $4 a gallon,” Right said Monday. “Nobody can really predict gasoline prices, but they could get there too.”
The high price for regular unleaded gasoline was $3.22 a gallon last May. The average price in Missouri was $2.98 and $2.95 in the Joplin-area, but Right said fuel prices typically hit their highest point in the spring when oil producers switch from winter to spring fuel, so the worst could still be on its way.
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