Richard Tafoya
Mar 4th, 2008, 01:47 AM
LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil4mar04,0,1448522.story
The gravity-defying price of oil shot through another barrier Monday by briefly touching $103.95 a barrel in New York trading, the highest cost ever for black gold even after adjusting for inflation.
Before Monday, the April 1980 price of $38 was the pinnacle, fueled by dramatic Mideast events including the failed rescue of American hostages in Iran. Adjusted for inflation, that $38 is now more than $103. This time, rather than a political crisis, the main culprit is decidedly less spectacular: a weak dollar.
For consumers and the nation's economy, triple-digit oil prices are being felt broadly, boosting costs from the gas pump to the grocery store and crimping sales of light trucks, tires and pleasure tours.
"These are desperate times," said Diana Rodriguez, a 36-year-old social worker from Los Angeles whose commute to Culver City and to clients' homes eats up a big chunk of her budget. Lately, she has had to limit herself at the supermarket, buying just one gallon of milk instead of two and denying her four children ice cream.
"The only thing to do is to use less gas, and go fewer places, but it's really hard on all of us," Rodriguez said while she pumped gas Monday at a Chevron station in Lincoln Heights. She paid $50 to put 14 gallons in the small 2007 Kia Rondo that she borrowed from her mother for the day to give her gas-guzzling truck -- and her wallet -- a break.
Even though the peak driving season is still months away, government figures showed the average cost of self-serve regular in California was $3.459 a gallon Monday, up 13.1 cents during the last week and less than a penny shy of the state's peak price of $3.461 a gallon hit in May.
Nationwide, the average pump price rose 3.2 cents in a week to $3.162 a gallon Monday. Diesel prices, meanwhile, set record-high averages nationwide and in California, jumping to $3.658 a gallon and $3.803 a gallon, respectively.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil4mar04,0,1448522.story
The gravity-defying price of oil shot through another barrier Monday by briefly touching $103.95 a barrel in New York trading, the highest cost ever for black gold even after adjusting for inflation.
Before Monday, the April 1980 price of $38 was the pinnacle, fueled by dramatic Mideast events including the failed rescue of American hostages in Iran. Adjusted for inflation, that $38 is now more than $103. This time, rather than a political crisis, the main culprit is decidedly less spectacular: a weak dollar.
For consumers and the nation's economy, triple-digit oil prices are being felt broadly, boosting costs from the gas pump to the grocery store and crimping sales of light trucks, tires and pleasure tours.
"These are desperate times," said Diana Rodriguez, a 36-year-old social worker from Los Angeles whose commute to Culver City and to clients' homes eats up a big chunk of her budget. Lately, she has had to limit herself at the supermarket, buying just one gallon of milk instead of two and denying her four children ice cream.
"The only thing to do is to use less gas, and go fewer places, but it's really hard on all of us," Rodriguez said while she pumped gas Monday at a Chevron station in Lincoln Heights. She paid $50 to put 14 gallons in the small 2007 Kia Rondo that she borrowed from her mother for the day to give her gas-guzzling truck -- and her wallet -- a break.
Even though the peak driving season is still months away, government figures showed the average cost of self-serve regular in California was $3.459 a gallon Monday, up 13.1 cents during the last week and less than a penny shy of the state's peak price of $3.461 a gallon hit in May.
Nationwide, the average pump price rose 3.2 cents in a week to $3.162 a gallon Monday. Diesel prices, meanwhile, set record-high averages nationwide and in California, jumping to $3.658 a gallon and $3.803 a gallon, respectively.