Drivers Enjoy Getting More Miles Per Dollar

By KEITH MORELLI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 14, 2007

TAMPA - For every penny saved at the gas pump, Lauren Martin sees dollars earned.

"I get to keep more of my money," the 21-year-old Tampa woman said, beaming, as she stuffed four pizzas into a canvas bag that, in turn, she stuffed into the back seat of her car about noon Monday.

Martin puts about 150 to 200 miles a week on her 1998 Saturn delivering pizzas, and when gas was topping out at more than $3 a gallon a few months ago, it cost her $55 or so. It's now back down to $40.

People such as Martin with a real thirst for fuel are noticing: Prices have been falling all summer, despite crude oil prices that remain at more than $70 a barrel.

On Monday, a couple of gas stations in the Bay area advertised prices below $2.50 a gallon.

According to gasbuddy.com, a Web site that tracks gasoline prices throughout the United States and Canada, the lowest price in the area was $2.48 a gallon - offered Monday morning at two Hess Marts on U.S. 19, one in Safety Harbor and the other in Tarpon Springs.

A survey of other stations found that some still are charging higher prices, including one in Shady Hills that gets $3.01 a gallon, the Web site states.

John Stanton of Land 'O Lakes filled his tank at a Sunoco station on North Dale Mabry Highway on Monday afternoon. He commutes from Pasco County to the West Shore area in south Tampa every day and changed his buying habits when the price hit $3 a gallon.

"I used to buy 93 octane, but when it got up that high I switched to 87 octane," Stanton said. He figures he puts in about $35 a week now that gas prices are down.

Prices may continue to fall, said Gregg Laskoski, of the American Automobile Association, and with refineries operating at near capacity, and barring any crisis in the Middle East or a devastating hurricane, the typical upsurge of prices just before Labor Day might not occur.

Two weeks ago, U.S. refineries were operating at 93.6 percent of capacity, he said.

"They never reach 100 percent. The highest they reach is about 95 percent," Laskoski said. "That's an outstanding performance.

"Last week they were operating at 91.2 percent, and that's still pretty healthy. With them operating at this level - in the spring it was 86, 87, 88 percent - it makes a big difference. Supply is ample right now."

And demand hasn't dropped, he said.

Every year, demand for gas increases by about 1 percent, he said. Recent calculations have shown demand this year has risen by 1.4 percent.

Still, prices likely will continue to drop, he said.

On Aug. 13, 2006, gasoline averaged $2.58 a gallon, Laskoski said, but dropped steadily to a low of $2.13 a gallon in October.

A report in the Economic Times during the weekend said the price for crude oil was down 12 cents at $71.47 a barrel and that prices have dipped about 10 percent since hitting $78.77 a barrel last week.

Observers say the market is fickle, however. Supply disruptions, falling U.S. stockpiles of crude oil and rising demand could bring an upsurge in prices at any given time, the Economic Times reported.

Supply disruptions had pushed pump prices nationwide to record highs. In the Tampa Bay area, the average price of regular-grade gas soared to a high of $3.09 a gallon in May. The nationwide high of $3.23 a gallon was set on the same day.

All that aside, now when landscaper Alexis Sergio pumps gasoline into the big pickup and fills all the containers for the gas-powered mowers, trimmers and leaf blowers, he notices a difference.

On Mondays he fills up the Lantz's Lawn Care truck and gas cans and spends $40 to $50, he said. When gas was $3 a gallon, the tab was much higher, he said.

"That," he said, "was rough."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 865-1504 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.