Sudden gas rises after $3

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Three-dollar-a-gallon gas has become a bargain in Sheboygan, Ricky Jackson found out Thursday.

Jackson, 27, of Sheboygan, was filling the tank of his vehicle at the Clark station at Indiana Avenue and South 17th Street, one of the few stations locally that hadn't raised its price a dime to $3.10 by Thursday afternoon.

"It's ridiculous," he said. "It keeps me from doing a lot, like taking my kids to the zoo in Milwaukee or going to Green Bay. Most of the time I end up ... just basically going to work. You can't really pay too much of your bills after you get gas at the gas station."

Navraj Ghuman, manager of the Clark station, said he would have to match the higher prices.

"We'll be going up also by tonight because the cost went up on that," Ghuman, 29, of Sheboygan, said Thursday afternoon. "I think it's not good that it's going on. It's not good for the gas station either because (there are) less people who pump gas with this much price. They avoid driving."

Jim Zachman of Cedar Grove pulled up to a pump at Ryan's Amoco on Taylor Drive on Thursday afternoon with a smile on his face.

It wasn't until he'd finished filling the two 2-gallon tanks on his Harley-Davidson Springer Softail that he noticed the price.

"Oh boy!" he said in surprise as he peered at the price on the premium pump. "I didn't even realize it was $3.25. I think it was $3.10 the last time I filled it up. I didn't even realize it was that high."

The price of unleaded gas has increased about 25 cents during the last week, and most gas stations in Sheboygan were charging $3.10 for a gallon of regular unleaded Wednesday afternoon.

Although Zachman said the price of gas doesn't slow him down when he wants to get on his motorcycle, he's not happy with the way things are going.

"Obviously it bothers everybody," he said. "It bothers me, sure. I think gas prices are way too expensive, I think oil companies are lining their pockets at Americans' expense. I don't like it. But if there was an alternative, then the oil companies wouldn't be able to gouge the way they do."

But Erin Roth, executive director of the Wisconsin Petroleum Council, said there are some very sound reasons for the rise in gas prices.

For one thing, crude oil continues to hover around $65 per barrel, which is up about $15 from the price just two months ago, he said.

"Crude oil is the No. 1 component in the price of gas," Roth said.

For another thing, there have been some serious supply-and-demand problems in the Midwest thanks to a fire at the BP refinery in Whiting, Ind., which supplies a lot of gasoline to Wisconsin, Roth said.

"Demand is high unexpectedly," Roth said. "People happen to be driving more."

The increase in demand is almost 2 percent nationally, he said.

"There's not one silver bullet you can point to as the cause for prices rising," he said.

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