May 7, 2007
Expensive Thirst Quenchers
Petrol pump prices in the US have hit a record average of $3.07, up 20c from two weeks earlier and 4c higher than the previous record reached in Aug 2006, the Associated Press reports, quoting analyst Trilby Lundberg. That may still be cheap compared to the $7.18 an average gallon of UK petrol cost last week, but it is again getting US politicians worked up about greedy price-gouging oil companies, with a Senate bill in the works. The real cause of the jump is of course far more complicated, with low inventories and refinery shutdowns the main culprits. But as prices on the futures markets fall, so analysts say will costs at the pump. What will likely remain unchanged is that a bottle of spring water available at the kiosk of most US petrol stations will still cost substantially more than the petrol that quenches the thirst of the cars parked at the pump. And on many days the water bottle is the one that also comes with the better proft margin.
