Motorists hitting the road for the traditional kickoff of the summer driving season this Memorial Day weekend will be greeted with record high gasoline prices.
Gas in Orangeburg costs 60 to 80 cents more a gallon than this time last year and is up about 20 cents from just a few weeks ago.
The prices are the highest ever recorded locally on the Memorial Day weekend.
The lowest gasoline prices for self-serve regular unleaded in Orangeburg Monday afternoon were at the Horizon E-Z Shop on Old St. Matthews Road and the Dodge’s Store on U.S. 301 and Cannon Bridge Road at $3.579 a gallon.
According to The Times and Democrat’s survey of 19 select gas stations in Orangeburg, the average price for regular unleaded, self-serve gasoline was $3.64 a gallon. Last year, the average of the same stations surveyed was $3 a gallon.
In 2006, Memorial Day average prices were $2.653. The price was $2.062 in 2005.
Diesel prices of the eight stations surveyed with signs visible from the road averaged about $4.369 a gallon. The lowest price diesel was at Murphy U.S.A. gasoline for $4.219 a gallon.
Statewide, the average price for regular unleaded is $3.632, up 65 cents from last year, according to www.southcarolinagasprices.com
The national average for regular unleaded self serve is $3.791. Nationally, prices are 59 cents from Memorial Day 2007, according to the American Automobile Association.
AAA reports the cheapest gallon of regular gasoline is now found in Gillette, Wyo., for $3.42. The most expensive gasoline is sold at several locations in Hawaii for $4.55.
Officials with the Lundberg Survey Inc., an independent market survey company specializing in the U.S. petroleum market, say national gasoline price averages could rise to about $4 a gallon, which would be the first time in history that metro areas in the country have seen prices over $4 a gallon.
This week was the first time that two metro areas -- Chicago and Long Island, N.Y. -- saw gasoline price averages over $4.
Crude oil prices, the biggest factor in gasoline prices, continue to rise.
Oil rose to about $127 per barrel Monday but the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a 13-nation intergovernmental organization that produces more than a third of the world’s oil and whose decisions have a significant impact on global oil prices, has said oil supplies were not likely to be boosted as the world has enough oil.
Officials blame the high prices on speculation, a weak dollar and geopolitical problems.
Oil prices have risen six-fold since 2002 and doubled since last year as rising demand from China and other developing nations stretched spare production capacity, adding pressure on the U.S. economy already hard hit by a housing slump.
Some analysts predict a jump to $141 for crude in the second half of the year.
High gasoline prices are expected to curb Memorial Day weekend travel, AAA says.
Early projections are that the number of Americans traveling more than 50 miles from home over the long holiday weekend will fall nearly 1 percent from last year.
AAA’s findings are based on an online survey of more than 2,000 adults, supplemented by surveys of 6,500 people who live in the top 10 travel states. The Travel Industry Association, a trade group, analyzes the data and provides AAA with the forecasts.
T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5551.