Cheapest gas: New Albany 3/27

Ah, we are back to $2 gas. How fun The national average today for a gallon of regular gas is $2.02. It’s more than I’d like to pay, but better than the $3.26 gas was going for this time last year. The state average today is $1.92.

New Albany has the cheapest gas in our sampled region, charging $1.83 per gallon of regular. Then it’s Corinth at $1.87, followed by Pontotoc ($1.88) and Sherman ($1.89).

In Tupelo, gas is $1.95 at Kroger at Crosstown, $1.96 at Travel Store USA off Eason and $1.92 for members at Sam’s.

Most expensive: $1.99 in Oxford

Other prices:

Amory $1.93
Booneville $1.97
Ripley $1.93
Starkville $1.95

For more gas prices, go to mississippigasprices.com.

Cheapest gas: New Albany 3/20

Gas went up 10 cents yesterday in Tupelo. Yowza. The state average only went up one cent to $1.82.

Cheapest gas this week is in New Albany for $1.76 for a gallon of regular. It’s $1.79 in Amory, Booneville, Corinth and Sherman.

In Tupelo, gas is $1.83 at Travel Store USA, $1.87 at Kroger at Crosstown at $1.78 for members at Sam’s.

Most expensive gas today: Oxford $1.92

Other prices:
Fulton $1.86
Pontotoc $1.81
Ripley $1.86
Starkville $1.84

For more gas prices, go to mississippigasprices.com.

Cheapest gas: Corinth-New Albany 3/13

The cheapest gas this week is in New Albany ($1.69) and Corinth ($1.69). We were complaining at the Journal about how high prices were getting, until we looked at where they were a year ago – $3.17.

The cheapest gas in the state right now is in Gulfport ($1.63), according to mississippigasprices.

Regular gas is $1.77 at Kroger at Crosstown (take off 3 cents if you are a cardholder), $1.78 at Travel Store USA and $1.74 for members at Sam’s Club.

Most expensive gas: Starkville, $1.89

Other prices:

New hybrid selling like hotcakes

And it’s not the Toyota Prius. It’s Honda’s new Insight (or should we say old, since it was reintroduced this year). As we’ve mentioned earlier, this presents a challenge to the Prius because its cheaper. It’s smaller, too, and doesn’t do all that the new Prius – which comes out in a couple months – does. Still, a couple thousand bucks is a couple thousand bucks.

From the AP:

Orders for the hybrid Insight have totaled 18,000 since it hit the Japanese auto market about a month ago, outpacing Honda’s target and underlining the success of the new affordable and ecological vehicle, the company said Tuesday.

The brisk demand for the gas-electric hybrid is a rare piece of good news for Honda Motor Co. as the auto industry grapples with plunging global demand. Honda, Japan’s second biggest automaker, was hoping for the Insight’s monthly sales to reach 5,000 vehicles.

The Insight starts at 1.89 million yen ($19,000) in Japan and will sell for under $20,000 in the U.S., the cheapest hybrid on the commercial market. The Insight goes on sale in April in the U.S., and March in Europe.

Just say NO to more ethanol in gas

Alarming news from the AP:

Ethanol producers asked the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to boost the amount of ethanol that can be blended with gasoline, but automakers argued the increase could damage car engines and fuel lines.

The ethanol producers want the EPA to increase the amount of ethanol that refiners can blend with gasoline from a maximum of 10 percent to 15 percent, which could boost the demand for the renewable fuel additive by as much as 6 billion gallons a year.

“Increasing the ethanol blend up to E15 is a common sense solution to our economic, energy and environmental challenges,” said retired Gen. Wesley Clark, co-chairman of Growth Energy, a coalition of ethanol companies.

The group argued that a number of studies, including one by the Energy Department, has shown that a 15 percent ethanol blend “has no adverse effects on a car’s performance, maintenance, or emissions controls.”

EPA press secretary Adora Andy said in a statement that the agency will review the request and “will act based on the best available science.”

But automakers and the producers of outdoor power equipment say the science has not yet shown that the higher “midlevel” blend of ethanol will safeguard engines, fuel lines, emission controls and other components.

“There has not been sufficient testing of motor vehicles and non-road power equipment … to determine whether any midlevel ethanol blend would meet current federal air quality protection requirements or be safe for consumers to use,” said a coalition whose members included automakers, boat owners, motorcycle manufacturers and oil refiners.

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I’ve seen what it does to my vehicle gas mileage, and I’ve seen what it does to my riding mower. I don’t like more ethanol in my gasoline!!!!

Cheapest gas: New Albany 3/6

As of 2 p.m. on Friday, March 6, New Albany had the lowest gas price in the area at $1.73. Corinth wasn’t far behind at $1.75.

In Tupelo, most prices were around $1.88, although Kroger was at $1.84 (take off 3 cents if you have a Kroger card). Sam’s was at $1.79 for club members.

With oil prices staying above $40 all week and closing above $45 on Friday, it looks like the days of “cheaper” gas are over.

The most expensive gas this week: Starkville, $1.90.

Other prices:
Booneville $1.79
Fulton $1.88
Oxford $1.81
Pontotoc $1.81
Ripley $1.84

Toyota may cut back Prius sales target

From Bloomberg (full text):

March 2 (Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp. is poised to introduce its 2010 Prius, the world’s top-selling hybrid, into a shrinking U.S. auto market that now includes a cheaper, revamped competitor from Honda Motor Co.

With a pledge to “build to demand,” the goal of selling 180,000 units in the car’s first year starting in mid-2009 may have to be dialed back, Bob Carter, vice president for U.S. sales, said last week at a briefing in Yountville, California.

Fuel at less than half of last year’s peak and the weakest industry sales since the early 1980s are casting doubt on Toyota’s plan to revive the model after 2008 deliveries fell 12 percent.

Cheapest gas: Sam’s Club-Sherman 2/27

Gas prices are a little wonky this week because the stations changed them during our information roundup. As far as we can tell, the cheapest gas this week is at Sherman ($1.69) or Sam’s Club in Tupelo ($1.69 for members).

New Albany was in the running for the cheapest gas ($1.65 for regular), but the price went up to $1.79 this afternoon. However, according to mississippigasprices, the cheapest gas in the state is in New Albany for $1.57. The price was reported Thursday.

Kroger at Crosstown did have a decent price ($1.72), but our hunch is it has gone up. Not sure what it is right now. If you see it this afternoon, post and tell us.

Most expensive gas: Starkville, $1.92

Other prices:
Booneville $1.89
Corinth $1.76
Fulton $1.89
Oxford $1.82
Pontotoc $1.87
Ripley $1.75

Cheapest gas: Corinth 2/13

Prices are still creeping up, despite oil closing at $37 today. Read more about why pump prices aren’t going down, too. Just in Tupelo, gas is up 11 cents from last week.

The cheapest gas in our survey is in Corinth ($1.74)

Other prices from around the region:

Amory $1.86
Booneville $1.81
Corinth $1.74*
Fulton $1.85
New Albany $1.85
Oxford $1.82
Pontotoc $1.86
Ripley $1.81
Sam’s Club (member price) $1.79
Sherman $1.79
Starkville $1.88
Tupelo (Crosstown Kroger) $1.85
*cheapest gas destination

For more gas prices, go to MississippiGasPrices.com.

Why gas prices are going up

Let’s see: oil is dropping again to around $30, but gas at the pump keeps rising, even as oil inventories also rise. What gives?

Here’s the culprit – refineries who are cutting production. From the AP:

While oil prices have been sliding, gas prices have been on the move. Prices at the pump rose 1.2 cents overnight to $1.95 nationwide, the highest level since Thanksgiving, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.

Prices are 34 cents higher than they were when they bottomed on Dec. 31, but still $1.02 below year-ago levels.

The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that crude inventories for the week ended Friday jumped 4.7 million barrels to 350.8 million barrels, surpassing the expectations of analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., who expected a boost of 3.4 million barrels. Including last week’s buildup, crude inventories have increased by more than 30 million barrels in the past five weeks.

The companies that own refineries are seeing the same dour headlines about job losses, and have slashed production as they try to match supply with demand. They also have curtailed production for maintenance typically performed this time of year.

Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, said his forecast is for gas to hit $2 to $2.50 a gallon. He said gasoline now is nearly $20 a barrel above crude prices east of the Rocky Mountains and nearly $40 in California.