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Dayton Business Journal...
Gas prices creep
higher
Monday, March 14, 2011
The price per gallon of gasoline in Dayton has gone up 10 cents in the
past week, although the price of crude oil dropped for the first time
in a month after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan forced the nation
to shut down some oil refineries.
Dayton motorists are paying $3.53 per gallon on average, compared with
$3.43 a week ago, $2.96 a month ago and $2.72 a year ago.
The national average price of unleaded regular gasoline is $3.55 per
gallon — up 5 cents.
The price of crude oil closed Friday at $101.16 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange — $3.26 less than the prior week. Oil prices
dipped after news Japan may experience a significant drop in demand for
weeks to come, AAA noted. Japan is the third-largest oil producing
country in the world. The “Day of Rage” that was expected to happen in
Saudi Arabia never occurred and also helped to push oil prices lower.
It’s uncertain whether or not oil prices will continue to decrease this
week as events in Japan and the Mideast continue to unfold, AAA said.
While many energy stocks were slightly down in early Monday trading,
the rising oil prices have given a boost in recent weeks to petroleum
company stocks, including BP plc., Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX);
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Hess Corp.
(NYSE: HES), Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), Occidental Petroleum Corp.
(NYSE: OXY), Royal Dutch Shell and Total SA (NYE: TOT).
However, the rise in gas and diesel fuel costs have hit many
businesses, including trucking companies.
The Dayton region has long been a hub for trucking companies because of
its central Midwest location and the intersection of Interstates 75 and
70.
Some of the biggest firms operate in the area, including US Xpress, the
third-largest private trucking company in the nation and operator of a
terminal in Springfield. Con-Way Inc.’s (NYSE: CNW) freight unit has
two locations in the Dayton region, Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.
(Nasdaq: ODFL) and Knight Transportation Inc. (NYSE: KNX) both also
have operations in Dayton. YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nadaq: YRCW) subsidiary
Holland Inc. operates a terminal on Valley Street in Dayton, and is
currently hiring more workers in the Dayton region.
The oil spike also has hurt airlines, with many carriers that fly out
of Dayton International Airport raising prices for airfares as much as
30 percent in recent weeks, including Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL); US
Airways Group (NYSE: LCC); AMR Corp.’s (NYSE: AMR) American Airlines
unit; AirTran, a unit of AirTran Holdings (NYSE: AAI); and United
Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL), the parent company of United and
Continental.
The overall energy situation also has caused many power companies to
seek out alternative fuels, and just recently DPL Inc. (NYSE: DPL)
announced it was seeking alternative biofuels to power its generating
plants. DPL is the primary utility in the Dayton region, followed by
Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) and American Electric Power Company
(NYSE: AEP).
Read it with links at Dayton Business Journal
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