TheScooterScoop

Checking on GasBuddy.com and I ran into this Reuters piece on CNN Money. It goes like this:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. consumers are digging deeper in their pockets to fill up at the pump, with the average price for gasoline now a record $3.10 a gallon, the government said on Monday.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline rose 5 cents over the last week and is up 16 cents from a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey of service stations.

The latest pump price tops the old record of $3.07 set in September 2005 after Hurricane Katrina disrupted refinery operations and oil production along the Gulf Coast, the EIA said.

The much larger AAA survey showed the price for gasoline at a record $3.07 on Monday.

Higher gasoline costs are cutting into consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic growth.

The EIA has forecast the national gasoline price will stay at or near $3 a gallon for most of the summer but will not come close to the $4 level that many consumers fear.

Energy experts say rising motor fuel costs reflect the temporary shutdown of several oil refineries, strong petroleum demand, militant attacks on Nigeria’s oil production and higher crude prices.

Guy Caruso, who heads the EIA, said that, given the tight supply conditions, OPEC oil ministers needed to boost crude production this summer and not wait until their next planned meeting in September to decide whether to change oil output levels.

“We do think there will be a need for more OPEC oil,” Caruso told reporters. “The most important thing is to keep the market adequately supplied.”

The record pump price came on the same day that President Bush ordered government agencies to begin developing regulations to carry out his plan to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption.

“Our dependence on oil creates a risk for our economy, because a supply disruption anywhere in the world could drive up American gas prices to even more painful levels,” Bush said in a speech from the White House Rose Garden.

Bush’s plan will not affect this summer’s U.S. gasoline prices or supplies, but by 2017 it is supposed to have Americans using 20 percent less gasoline and billions of gallons more in renewable and alternative fuels instead.

If you’re riding a scooter then you’ve got a 10 year jump on the plan. Great job!