LOW GAS PRICES FUEL MORE MISSOURI SUMMER DRIVING

Missourians may be paying a little more for gasoline these days, but the state's average of $1.03 for regular unleaded fuel is still well below the national average of $1.11 per gallon.

"Motorists here are getting a bargain," said Bob Blank, of Bi-State Oil Company in Cape Girardeau, "The prices are even better than the state average."

Cape Girardeau drivers looking for self-serve, regular unleaded fuel, are finding 99.9-cent a gallon gasoline at most stations in town.

That price is up only slightly from early July prices of a year ago when drivers were paying 99.2 cents a gallon.

"That's remarkable considering the addition of fuel taxes over the past year," said Blank.

A total of 6.3 cents per gallon has been added in federal and state taxes -- 4.3 federal in October of 1993, and two cents state in April of this year.

Earlier this year, the price of gasoline in the Cape Girardeau area dropped to 89.9 cents a gallon. But that was before the two-cents-a-gallon state tax increase in April and the gradual increase in wholesale prices.

In mid-May, crude cost about $18 a barrel, up $2 from mid-March prices. The crude price recently rose to $20 a barrel.

"We felt the prices would start going up once farmers got back in the fields," said Blank. "Crude prices are based on supply and demand, When farmers started work in the field, the demand went up and the prices followed.

"We don't expect to see any noticeable increases over the next month or so," said Blank.

At 99.9 cents a gallon, area residents are paying about two cents a gallon less than metropolitan St. Louis motorists.

"The average in the St. Louis area now is $1.01," said Michael J. Right, a spokesman for the AAA Auto Club of Missouri, St. Louis. "But, prices fluctuate frequently in the metro area and you can usually find lower prices. The St. Louis gas market is highly competitive. "The metropolitan area has all of the major brands and a number of independents."

Motorists heading into Tennessee should be braced for a shock, notes Right, who monitors state and national gas prices for AAA. "The average prices for self-serve regular unleaded in Tennessee is $1.26," he said.

Despite fuel tax hikes during the past year, U.S. gasoline prices this summer are only up about one cent a gallon from the nationwide average of $1.12 last summer.

That comes as a surprise. Projections last year indicated it could cost much more for motorists to hit the road this summer.

"Federal, state and local taxes imposed during the past year were expected to add at least six to seven cents a gallon to retail prices," said John Lichtblau, chairman of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation in New York. "A jump seemed a real good bet, especially with last October's 4.3 cents-a-gallon federal tax increase."

With the new taxes, motorists are five to six cents ahead of last year.

With the reprieve from higher gasoline prices, American motorists are travelling more than ever this summer.

"Americans have planned more than 230 million trips this summer," said Right. "Auto travel will account for 80 percent of the trips, which tabulates into 184 million auto trips of 100 miles or more."

The summer figures are up 5 percent over travel planning a year ago between the Independence Day (July 4) and Labor Day (Sept. 5) holidays. In recent years, gains of two percent a year have been usual.

Vacation information requests are up at the local AAA office here, ranging from long-range trip information requests to shorter weekend destinations like Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., Chicago, Ill., and Branson, Hannibal, St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.

Travel experts say that vacationing has been on the decline in recently years, mostly because of the recession.

The roads were crowded during the July 4 holiday and are expected to be busy through the Labor Day weekend in September.

Gasoline prices might increase as the summer goes on, in response to wholesale price increases.

But Cher Stuewe-Portnoff, director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Division, says energy-wise drivers can reduce energy consumption and increase safety at the same time by obeying the posted speed limits.