Ind. gasoline prices continue to rise

Remember in 2008 when gas prices were so high that you wanted to quit driving altogether?

Well, similar days may be approaching as the average price for gas has reached $3.089 per gallon in Indiana. That is the highest price since September 2008, when gas cost $4.171 per gallon, the highest recorded average price ever, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

Gas still costs more than a dollar less than it did in 2008. However, gas costs 49 cents on average more per gallon today than one year ago. And it’s winter right now.

“Come the arrival of spring ... we know that gas prices will generally go up some,”  Greg Seiter, public relations representative for AAA Hoosier Motor Club, said.

Seiter said on an annual scale, the price of gas tends to decrease in the fall and rise in the spring. But prices have been and still are rising.

“(Come spring) the industry switches over to reformulated gasoline,” Seiter said. “Reformulated gasoline is used during the summer months to help combat air pollution, and that product is much more expensive to produce.”

Businesses like Bloomington Transit and IU Campus Bus that use massive amounts of gas year-round are already considering the possibility of higher prices. 

“Certainly the trend right now seems to be going up,” Lew May, Bloomington Transit general manager, said. “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we’re paying a higher price in a couple months compared to right now.”

These businesses don’t spend as much on gas as the everyday consumer because they buy gas by the bulk, but May said Bloomington Transit uses about 300,000 gallons of fuel annually.

“It’s a big expense in our budget,” he said. “Any kind of price spike is going to increase our costs significantly.”

IU Campus Bus operations manager Terry Maull said Campus Bus is in a similar situation even though they only use about 130,000 gallons of fuel per year.
 
“If fuel goes up by 25 cents per gallon, then take it by 130,000 gallons and that’s our increase in fuel costs,” he said.