Show Gas Prices Rising l 4 By Hope Rowe Community Editor An 8 cent increase in Utah s average gasoline price in one month has people wondering L why Utah s gas prices are rising considerably while the national gasoline price increased only modestly According to a survey done by AAA Salt Lake City has the lowest average price in Utah for gasoline at per gallon which is an increase of 5 cents from July Although Moab only had an increase of 1 cent it has the highest price for regular self- self serve gasoline at per gal gal- lon Provo increased by 19 cents putting them at and giving them the biggest increase of the cities surveyed Ogden experienced experienced experienced a 13 cent rise and Vernal a 9 cent rise Utah s geographic location makes it a very isolated market with its own supplies and refineries refiner refiner- ies thereby creating its own supply supply supply sup sup- ply and demand cycle This means that refinery problems or routine shutdowns for maintenance maintenance maintenance nance can lead to a shortage and therefore higher prices says Alan Kovski energy analyst Fairclough AAA Utah spokeswoman said there is not a shortage but a tightening of supplies which may be part of the reason for the gas hike Importing gasoline can ease the some of the tension but it may only serve as a temporary fix Fairclough says If strong imports of gasoline continue through the fall natio national al gasoline gasoline gaso gaso- gasoline line prices could drop even lower in October and November I While lowering prices these imports from Europe an ani and d li Ii i Venezuela are not good for the country s refining industry Refiners are hesitant to make new investments in their fuel refining capacity because of decreased profits In addition gasoline imports increase the nation nations s dependency on foreign producers This could negatively negatively nega nega- negatively affect several refineries in North Salt Lake Winter and summer are major using fuel-using times and therefore cause higher demand which can encourage higher prices In Utah we have an environmental program program program pro pro- gram to help reduce carbon monoxide and smog by oxygenating oxygenating oxygenating oxy oxy- and using ethanol instead of methyl butyl ary-butyl ether in our gasoline blends Both and ethanol reduce air pollution pollutes pollutes pollutes pol pol- lutes ground water Ethanol is isan isan isan an organic product made from corn com During the fall suppliers are trying to get rid of summer blends and during the spring they are trying to get rid of winter winter winter win win- ter blends which were composed of lighter natural gases like butane This is part of the reason reason reason rea rea- son why prices tend to be lower in the fall and spring The summer summer summer sum sum- mer blend expires on October 1 The end of summer driving demand and the upcoming expiration expiration expiration ration of state reformulated fuel requirements mean gasoline prices should continue to decline in most areas of the country said Fairclough Most of the states neighboring Utah also showed an increase inthe in inthe inthe the past month Idaho increased 8 cents Colorado 6 cents Wyoming 4 cents and Montana 2 cents However two states gasoline prices declined Nevada is down 4 cents and Arizona 3 cents C |