As sure as shooting off fireworks, the Fourth of July means
near-peak gas prices.
The good news: That annual peak is likely to be much lower this
year than in 2008, when prices for regular unleaded topped $4 a
gallon in many places.
The bad news: Gas prices have been rising steadily for the past
two months and are nearly $1 a gallon higher than at the start of
the year.
“It’s hard to budget for something that goes up and down that
much,” Laura Cole, of Littleton, said the morning of June 18.
Cole, who had just finished filling up her SUV at a gas station
off Santa Fe Drive, was not complaining, though. This year’s fuel
savings means her family will take a summer road trip.
“We will this summer,” she said. “We didn’t last year. It was
cheaper to fly.”
Regular unleaded gasoline is selling for about $2.50 around the
South Metro area. That’s about $1.40 a gallon less than at the
start of summer 2008.
Last year, prices reached a dreaded milestone. At its peak, the
average price for regular unleaded in the Denver area was $4 a
gallon on July 17, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
Shortly after, prices started to fall and dipped below $1.50 a
gallon late in the year.
But the price of crude oil has skyrocketed since the end of 2008
and topped $70 a barrel recently. Some projections have gas prices
climbing closer to $3 a gallon this summer.
Ed Hegwood, of Larkspur, is not particularly concerned about the
fluctuations.
“I bought a [fuel-efficient] vehicle last year when gas prices
were high.”
