ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996 TAG: 9604040070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's On Your Mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: Why has the price of gas gone up 7 to 8 cents at gas stations all at the same time? It looks like price fixing. I thought this was against the law.
J.R., Roanoke; C.H., Salem
A: Say hello again to rising gasoline prices. The supply is down, and prices are jumping for the first time in four years or so.
It's typical for prices to go up a bit as summer driving approaches. The season, unfortunately, isn't the only thing changing here.
Prices of crude oil have jumped from $18 a barrel in mid-January to as high as $24 on March 19. Crude's price was $20 last week.
Part of the reason was the long, cold winter, which diverted oil supplies to heating fuel. Another factor has been the world's refusal to buy oil from Iraq because of human-rights violations. Third, refiners now buy crude just in time to process, rather than stockpiling.
The oil industry held prices down for a while, thinking politics would release Iraq's oil onto the market. In February it became apparent that Iraq would continue to be held in disfavor.
The oil market took about six weeks to react as it balanced a lower inventory of gasoline on hand and less crude oil in the supply lines against a two-year trend of increasing gasoline consumption.
The lid blew off March 22. That was the expiration date on oil futures contracts that had been sold on the New York Mercantile Exchange for refiners' purchases of crude supplies for April.
We saw the increase at the pumps in less than a week as refiners began buying crude at higher prices.
Industry experts say gasoline demand has risen, and will continue to go up, for three reasons: the popularity of bigger cars and four-wheel-drive vehicles; longer commutes by people moving to the suburbs; and the rise of state speed limits.
Some information for this item came from the Oil Daily of March 18 and from Earl Ross at the American Petroleum Institute.
DUI equality
Q: How did the woman who was employed by the General Assembly in Richmond get off with just a 10-day sentence for her second DUI in five years? I went to court for DUI, and I got four days to serve. It'll cost me close to $2,000 with fine, attorney fees and insurance. I had a clean driving record for many years before this.
R.A., Roanoke
A: Our news report omitted several details of the penalty given Pennelope Cabaniss, a House of Delegates clerk, in Henrico County traffic court March 26.
According to Cabaniss' attorney, she'll serve 10 days in jail over three weekends. Remaining months of her jail sentence were suspended.
Here's the rest of her punishment: a $400 fine and license suspension for four months with a provision that she can drive only to work for the remainder of three years.
Beyond that is attendance at VASAP classes, court costs, attorney fees and the costliest part of all: insurance revocation, with coverage only by assigned risk for at least three years.
Cabaniss' penalty appears to exceed yours for a first offense.
Have a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Or, e-mail Roatimes@Infi.Net. Maybe we can find the answer.
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