Written by Eric Wolff for the north county times
Falling gas prices aren't inspiring locals to spending or traveling frenzies.
Gas prices have dropped precipitously since hitting a peak in May. Speculators worrying about slowing growth in China and India let crude oil prices drop, and refiners fixed problems at refineries. For residents of North San Diego and Southwest Riverside counties, the move helped household budgets, but wasn't sparking any big travel plans for the Fourth of July holiday.
"It makes a big difference," said Phil Comes, a San Marcos electrician. "I commute down to the Port (of San Diego)."
But, he added, "I don't think we'll go anywhere for the Fourth."
In the space of a month, the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in San Diego fell 61 cents, or 13.9 percent, to $3.76 on Friday, according to AAA. In Riverside and San Bernardino, the average price dropped 64 cents, or 14.5 percent, to $3.74 on Friday.
"There's concern about weaknesses in the economies around the world, which brings prices back down again," said Joe Hahn, an oil economist at Pepperdine University.
The price of oil on the Brent North Sea exchange, which is the benchmark for the oil that California refines, sank from a high of $125 a barrel in February to $92 a barrel last week, according to Reuters.
In May, a refinery in Washington that had had a fire in February resumed full production of California's special blend of fuel, restoring local inventories.
Locals were pleased that prices had fallen, but few said they were making big changes in their habits.
"It helps, but we always do our stuff," said Scott Gruduk, a retired construction worker from Fallbrook.
Sandra Estrada, a Lake Elsinore resident, was pleased with the falling prices.
"It let me be able to spend more money on other things," she said.
Mohsen Arabshahi owns two gas stations in Oceanside and a truck stop north of Barstow. He said the drop in gas prices brought a few more people to the station, but high unemployment was holding back his business.
"It still is expensive," Arabshahi said. "It's a lot of money. Sometimes in three days, we get $3,000 in ones (dollar bills). They come up with dollars they save, because they still do not have a job."
Lower gas prices are helping some families in small ways. When prices were high, Diane Cruze of Escondido drove her family's fuel-efficient Honda Civic, which means she couldn't drive all four of her children. But the drop in prices coincided with her oldest son's graduation from boot camp, which meant she could pile everyone into her GMC truck and make the trip down to San Diego for the ceremony.
"We wouldn't have been able to take everyone," she said.
Gas prices may not stay this low for long, though. On Friday, news of a big move by European leaders to fix a spiraling debt crisis there gave speculators a new hope that the economy was improving ---- and that there would be big demand for oil, Reuters said. Brent crude oil jumped $6 a barrel to $98 in a single day, the fourth-biggest jump ever ---- and a sign that higher gas prices could be on the horizon.
Commentary: Fuel prices are having the same effect as a knuckleball, you never know which direction it's going to go. It's quite frustrating when fuel prices go up & down all the time, even more of a headache that californians pay more for fuel than any other state, excluding Hawaii, for gasoline.
It'd really be nice were the fuel prices to return to $1.50/ gal, however, that's not likely to happen any time soon.
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