THE ROYCROFT REPORT

February 19, 2012 - The San Jose Mercury News reports that some oil analysts predict $4.50 a gallon or more by Memorial Day on the West Coast and major cities across the United States such as Chicago, New York and Atlanta. Prices in that range could be a major issue in the presidential campaign, especially if they slow the nation’s economic recovery. In some parts of California the gas prices have already risen to $4 a gallon. Thanks to the Iran situation it could hit $4.50 a gallon.

The Christian Science Monitor notes that it’s not so much crude production as it is transportation:

One of the problems is moving [Midwest/Canadian] oil to the Gulf Coast where there is plenty of refining capability. A pipeline that used to move gasoline to the Midwest is now being converted to move unrefined oil the other direction. However, there will still be an need to move oil south, says [analyst Sander] Cohan.

“That’s what the Keystone XL pipeline was all about,” he says. “Bringing oil south, it eases congestion in the Midwest.”

Obama has blocked the pipeline for environmental reasons. On Friday, the House passed legislation to take away Obama’s authority on the pipeline, but the bill’s fate in the Senate was less certain.

If gas hits $4.50 a gallon it could mean the end of the Obama administration. That’s about the only good news that would come out of this. -JRoycroft

Related articles:

• $5 Gas Coming Soon, People Fear
• Gasoline Prices Expected To Drop As Much As 50 Cents By Summer
• So Much For The Summer Of $5.00 Gas
• Michele Bachmann’s Plan For $2.00 Gas: Another Great Recession?
• Back to $4/Gallon Gas?

• 5 Reasons We’ll See $4-a-Gallon Gas by Memorial Day (dailyfinance.com)
• Rising Gas Prices And The 2012 Elections (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Rising Gas Prices On Long Island Squeezing Residents’ Budgets (newyork.cbslocal.com)