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CNN Live Today

Gas Prices

Aired March 10, 2003 - 10:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I know it's depressing, but no matter where you drive in the U.S., you'll pay at least 1.50 for gasoline. The average price rose 5 cents a gallon last week to about 1.72, and that's within a cent of the all-time high. The highest gas prices in the country are in San Francisco, $2.10. And the lowest are right here in Atlanta, at about 1.51. Our next guest is predicting that gas prices could go up to $3 a gallon, and he's Rod Kukrow, editor the trade publication "Oil Daily," and he's with us from a gas station somewhere in the nation's capital, where I can see at least for regular it's somewhere 1.80-something.
Good to see you.

Well, you see this, this is really just beginning -- $1.82, I can see it now. This is just the beginning perhaps of rise in gas prices. What are you anticipating?

ROD KUCKRO, EDITOR, "OIL DAILY": Well, people that we talked to on a regular basis in the industry and financial community expect prices could do 2.50 or $3 by summer, because of a number of factors, some of which people are familiar with, the weather being so terrible this past winter, driving up heating oil prices. We've had the strike in Venezuela, which for two months suspended in large part imports from one of our leading suppliers, and concern about what could happen with a war Iraq, and that might exacerbate prices even more should Saddam Hussein fire his oil fields.

WHITFIELD: Why would Venezuela be such an impact when it is one of five suppliers for the U.S., but not the top one, one of? It would seem, as though, perhaps, it wouldn't have such a great influence?

KUCKRO: Well, Venezuela oil is very close. It only has to cross a short distance from North and South America to the Gulf Coast to be refined. So in terms of getting that oil to market, it has a high impact on prices of this country, whereas oil from Saudi Arabia or Africa can take a month or six weeks or even more to get the United States.

WHITFIELD: Help us explain why prices are so varied. It's $1.51 in Atlanta, $2.10 in San Francisco. What's going on here?

KUCKRO: California is a unique situation. They're under a mandate to reduce pollution by year 2004, and they have to change over from a chemical additive called MTBE to ethanol, which is an agrarian based fuel additive, and that in and of itself is driving up prices of refining gasoline in California to now where it's well over $2 a gallon, and in most places, even for regular. In the Gulf Coast and Atlanta, where you are, it might be lower prices, because that's close to where the refineries are . So if it takes a shorter period of time for oil to get to the refinery and shorter period of time to be sent to market, delivery costs are less.

WHITFIELD: What's this mean for the petroleum reserve, if anything?

KUCKRO: For the nation's reserves?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

KUCKRO: Well, we have about 600 million barrels of crude oil in reserve down in Louisiana and Texas, and that oil was released once before during the Gulf War, and when it was released at the outset of the way, it helped bring prices down, at least for a short period of time, and I think you're likely to see a similar release occur when we got to Iraq in the next week or two, if that does indeed occur.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rod Kuckro, thanks very much, of the "Oil Daily," thanks for visiting with us.

KUCKRO: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 10, 2003 - 10:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I know it's depressing, but no matter where you drive in the U.S., you'll pay at least 1.50 for gasoline. The average price rose 5 cents a gallon last week to about 1.72, and that's within a cent of the all-time high. The highest gas prices in the country are in San Francisco, $2.10. And the lowest are right here in Atlanta, at about 1.51. Our next guest is predicting that gas prices could go up to $3 a gallon, and he's Rod Kukrow, editor the trade publication "Oil Daily," and he's with us from a gas station somewhere in the nation's capital, where I can see at least for regular it's somewhere 1.80-something.
Good to see you.

Well, you see this, this is really just beginning -- $1.82, I can see it now. This is just the beginning perhaps of rise in gas prices. What are you anticipating?

ROD KUCKRO, EDITOR, "OIL DAILY": Well, people that we talked to on a regular basis in the industry and financial community expect prices could do 2.50 or $3 by summer, because of a number of factors, some of which people are familiar with, the weather being so terrible this past winter, driving up heating oil prices. We've had the strike in Venezuela, which for two months suspended in large part imports from one of our leading suppliers, and concern about what could happen with a war Iraq, and that might exacerbate prices even more should Saddam Hussein fire his oil fields.

WHITFIELD: Why would Venezuela be such an impact when it is one of five suppliers for the U.S., but not the top one, one of? It would seem, as though, perhaps, it wouldn't have such a great influence?

KUCKRO: Well, Venezuela oil is very close. It only has to cross a short distance from North and South America to the Gulf Coast to be refined. So in terms of getting that oil to market, it has a high impact on prices of this country, whereas oil from Saudi Arabia or Africa can take a month or six weeks or even more to get the United States.

WHITFIELD: Help us explain why prices are so varied. It's $1.51 in Atlanta, $2.10 in San Francisco. What's going on here?

KUCKRO: California is a unique situation. They're under a mandate to reduce pollution by year 2004, and they have to change over from a chemical additive called MTBE to ethanol, which is an agrarian based fuel additive, and that in and of itself is driving up prices of refining gasoline in California to now where it's well over $2 a gallon, and in most places, even for regular. In the Gulf Coast and Atlanta, where you are, it might be lower prices, because that's close to where the refineries are . So if it takes a shorter period of time for oil to get to the refinery and shorter period of time to be sent to market, delivery costs are less.

WHITFIELD: What's this mean for the petroleum reserve, if anything?

KUCKRO: For the nation's reserves?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

KUCKRO: Well, we have about 600 million barrels of crude oil in reserve down in Louisiana and Texas, and that oil was released once before during the Gulf War, and when it was released at the outset of the way, it helped bring prices down, at least for a short period of time, and I think you're likely to see a similar release occur when we got to Iraq in the next week or two, if that does indeed occur.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rod Kuckro, thanks very much, of the "Oil Daily," thanks for visiting with us.

KUCKRO: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com