Area prepares for higher gas prices

Ask Cape Girardeau retiree Bob Ulrich how high is too high for gas prices and the answer is right in front of him.

"Well, let's see," Ulrich said looking at the pump at Rhodes 101 on Sprigg Street. "It looks like about $2.59."

Prices have already had a negative effect on Ulrich's fixed income -- an effect that's about to get worse.

As Hurricane Rita prepares to crash into the Gulf Coast, people in Southeast Missouri are again bracing for rising gas prices.

Texas, where Rita is expected to make landfall early Saturday, is home to 25 of the nation's 144 operating oil refineries.

Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co., a Houston-based company that has a gasoline pipeline terminal in Scott City, has shut down all of its terminals in the Gulf Coast region and evacuated its employees. It's unclear when those terminals will resume operation.

Basic Fuel owner David Lemmon said price increases could be even greater if supplies dry up at the Scott City terminal. Lemmon said that when Katrina hit, Basic had to get gas from Springfield, Mo., which increased the price by 7 to 9 cents per gallon because of shipping.

The price of a gallon of regular unleaded rose from $2.489 to $2.559 Thursday at his Cape Girardeau station, said Lemmon. He said some companies had raised their wholesale price by 39 cents by 1 p.m. Thursday,

Scott Blank, owner of Bi-State convenience stores, said prices at his stores rose 10 cents, from $2.499 to $2.599 for regular unleaded.

Those raises, he said, weren't in anticipation of Rita, but the result of market forces already at work.

Blank said he'd be surprised if prices hit the levels seen after Katrina, barring some unforeseen circumstance, because the Gulf Coast is more prepared now.

"The worst thing that could happen is for everybody to panic and run out to the gas pumps," Blank said. "The bottom line is, we're certainly going to see a spike in fuel prices, but it will nosedive after this is over."

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182