Gas prices in area jump to records

As area gas prices jumped Thursday afternoon to all-time highs, one station ran out of regular and super unleaded fuel thanks to the climbing cost of crude oil and the production disruption caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The highest price in the region Thursday may have been at Express Fuel in Benton, Mo., where gas was selling for $3.12 per gallon if paid for with a credit or debit card or $3.09 per gallon for a cash transaction. The unleaded regular price at Rhodes 101 Convenience Stores, the area's largest gasoline retailer, was $2.99 per gallon.

The previous inflation-adjusted high for gasoline occurred in March 1981 after the Iranian revolution. The national average price at that time was $1.417 a gallon. Today that would equal $3.05 a gallon after adjusting for inflation.

Statewide, the average price per gallon of unleaded regular gasoline was $2.60.

Huck's Convenience Store at 353 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau ran out of regular unleaded and super unleaded fuel Thursday. Many motorists pulled in only to leave once they saw the signs.

James Williams opted for premium gas, which was $3.20 a gallon. Filling up cost him $30.38.

"It's outrageous," he said. "What's going on here? It reminds me of the energy crisis of the '80s. It's getting crazy."

Rhodes 101 Convenience Stores co-owner Jim Maurer said consumers shouldn't panic.

"When people panic, they race to the pumps, and that can create a shortage," Maurer said Thursday. "There may be a shortage, but we are going to receive more gas tonight."

Gas prices have gone up 50 cents since Monday at Rhodes 101 Convenience Stores, Maurer said.

Maurer said gas prices have taken a double shot.

"It really goes back a couple weeks ago to the climbing cost of crude oil," he said. "Then Katrina comes along, and 750 refineries and oil rigs were shut down. All that did was add to the problem of low inventory."

Ronald J. Leone, executive director for Missouri Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association, said prices at the retail level are spiking because prices at the wholesale level are doing the same.

"How much and for how long remains to be determined," Leone said.

Maurer doesn't see prices coming down soon. "But there's no big threat of it running out," he said. "We've got product. We will continually have product."

Kathleen Sauve of Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co., which operates a terminal in Scott City, said a delivery of unleaded fuel was expected sometime Thursday evening.

jfreeze@semissourian.com