SOC Predictions Embraced By Mass Media

Finally! Members of the media have picked up on the SOC (Sound Of Cannons) prediction for $4/gallon gas.

Get Your Wallet Ready for $4 Gas

Added: Apr 29th, 2007 6:42 AMBy Gary Richards Mercury NewsGas prices soared to a record $3.38 a gallon in the South Bay on Friday, and may be marching this summer to the once unthinkable $4 level.Records were also set in 10 other cities across California, with the latest surge coming on the heels of booming first-quarter profits announced this week by four major oil companies totaling more than $22 billion.Those hefty profits have many drivers grumbling over being gouged, but energy experts say widespread refinery problems plus continued worries about the Middle East are taking a heavy toll just as the weather warms up and American motorists head to the road in likely record numbers."We're probably going to see $3.50, maybe $3.75 a gallon in California," said Chris Mennis, a petroleum broker in Aptos, saying there have been "six refinery glitches in one week across the country and now there's a threatened strike in Belgium that could shut down 600,000 barrels and the threat of a strike in Latin America."All this is happening while our gasoline stocks are at very low levels. It looks like gasoline will go through the roof."The surge at the pump is the talk of the Bay, from drivers trying to ease the pain on their pocketbook to transportation agencies adding millions to their budgets to cover fuel costs.At a Chevron station off Capitol Expressway and Story Road in San Jose on Friday, the cost of a gallon went from $3.59 to $3.63. Isabel Candelas pumped less than seven gallons into in her compact car, costing $25. Candelas, who sells Mary Kay cosmetics, spends about $120 a week on fuel. As prices have soared she has been careful to schedule her sales calls geographically so that she can drive as little as possible.At a Valley Transportation Authority budget meeting Friday, officials are planning to buy gas for $3.43 a gallon over the next year - a discounted figure 20 to 30 cents lower than what drivers can expect to pay at the pump. That would cost the agency an extra $4 million a year.VTA General Manager Michael Burns reported gas selling for $4 a gallon near his home in San Francisco, the city with the most expensive gas in the country at $3.50 a gallon on average."I feel like I'm in Europe now with four-buck-a-gallon gas prices," said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, a VTA board member. "And I didn't even have to pay air fare to get there."The city of San Jose set aside $500,000 for higher fuel costs this year and has earmarked an additional $750,000 next year if needed, margins "that may disappear, given the rising costs of late," said Peter Jensen, the city's general services director.Prices have risen steadily over the past two months, but eased earlier this week. Then came a report Wednesday from the Energy Department showing a large, unexpected drop in U.S. gas supplies of 2.8 million barrels when a gain of 200,000 barrels had been expected.Inventories are at their lowest since October 2005, the month after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.The arrests this week of 172 Islamist militants, some of whom planned to attack oil fields in Saudia Arabia, sent oil prices to over $66 a barrel Friday.Toss in problems this week at a BP refinery in Indiana and a ConocoPhillips refinery in Wilmington, Calif., that trimmed production by 200,000 barrels a day."We all saw the impact that hurricanes had on fuel prices in 2005," said Sean Comey of the AAA. "As bad as that was, it was actually a relatively minor event compared to some of the possible worst-case scenarios."On the flip side, there's Big Oil.Chevron announced earnings of $4.7 billion during the first three months of the year. This followed similar profit reports from BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil. Eddie Sabalsa filled up at the Chevron station on Capitol Expressway on Friday and estimates that he spends $400 to $500 a month on gas for his SUV and an additional $800 to $1,000 a month for diesel fuel for his tow truck.Then there's Eileen Hamper of Campbell, a retiree who drives 60 mph in the slow lane to boost her mileage. "I even put a reflective sticker on my back window: `I'M SLOW,' so that the cars behind me will move on quickly," she said. "The sticker has worked amazingly well. I don't get the bumper-riders for more than about 20 seconds now."Prices are now 21 cents higher than last May in San Jose, when the previous record of $3.36 was reached. Is $4 a gallon in our future?"That," said Susanne Garfield of the California Energy Commission, "is the $64 bizillion question."