Shhh! Don’t tell President Bush, but gasoline prices just hit $4 a gallon in Aspen.
Fuel at the Shell station, aka The Aspen Store, on Main Street was
fetching $4.109 for a gallon of regular unleaded, $4.329 for premium
and $4.499 for diesel on Tuesday. Down the road, Main Street Gas
demanded $4.079 for regular and $4.279 for the premium grade.
Only a few weeks ago, the nation’s commander in chief was aghast when a
reporter informed him that fuel prices were reaching the proverbial
stratosphere.
“Wait, what did you just say? You’re predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?”
Bush responded to the roomful of reporters. “That’s interesting. I
hadn’t heard that. ... I know it’s high now.”
Out in Washington, D.C., where the president dwells, gasoline prices
are far more tame. A gallon of gas there runs roughly $3.25 on average.
And analysts don’t predict a gallon of gas in the Beltway will hit its
peak until sometime in May or June. Even then, they predict $3.50 a
gallon. Those same analysts predict the West Coast will see gas hit $4
a gallon this summer.
Apparently they forgot to take a look at the 81611 zip code here in the Rocky Mountains.
With even the cheapest grade commanding over $4 in downtown Aspen,
motorists won’t find much relief on the outskirts of town. The Conoco
station at the Airport Business Center is charging $3.949 for a gallon
of unleaded, $4.049 for unleaded plus and $4.149 for premium.
“I remember the days when I used to put a dollar in my Volkswagen and I
could drive forever,” said Aspen resident Patti Clapper, a three-term
commissioner for Pitkin County.
She blamed the oil industry, which has seen the price of crude oil
reach new heights, shooting to $112 a barrel over the weekend. “In
looking at the profit margins for the oil industry, I don’t see how
anybody could say it’s related to anything but oil industry profit,”
said Clapper.
In February, a barrel of crude oil was $87.
Gasoline in the Roaring Fork Valley usually gets considerably less
expensive the farther one drives away from Aspen. One of the cheaper
service stations in the valley is in Basalt where a gallon of unleaded
goes for $3.37 at the 7-Eleven. Shell in Glenwood Springs charges $3.47.
The national average jumped 6 cents this week to $3.227.
So before he knows it, President Bush might be riding in a car filled
with $4 gas. In fact, in the president’s home state of Texas, regular
unleaded is a little above $3 at stations around Crawford. And if he’s
driving diesel? That stuff is already selling for more than $4 in Texas.
This isn’t the first time Aspen has watched its gasoline pumps spit out
ungodly totals. Last summer, a gallon of regular unleaded at The Aspen
Store (Shell) was offered at $4.09. And that means the $4.109 a gallon
the same station is selling now appears to be a new record.
hoop@aspendailynews.com
