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Chattanooga: Local gas prices make slight slide

By: Adam Crisp
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Pat Bridges

Here’s some less-than-horrible news: The price of regular unleaded gasoline in Chattanooga has fallen slightly — very slightly — since a record high June 17.

The average price was $3.885 a gallon Tuesday compared to $3.897 three weeks ago, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. That’s about 1/100th of a cent less, way too small for most motorists to notice.

But here’s the bad news: That might be all the relief consumers can expect, economists say.

On Tuesday, the national average price for a gallon of gasoline hit a new record — $4.087, according to AAA.

In Georgia, Tuesday’s statewide average for regular was $3.998 per gallon. Alabama residents were, on average, paying $3.942 Tuesday.

“The prices ... have fluctuated over the last week or so, a fraction of a penny each day,” said Troy Green, a national spokesman for AAA. “So we haven’t seen any major swings either way.”

Crude oil continued to trade at increasingly higher prices Tuesday, around $146 a barrel, according to Mr. Green. That price tag beat Monday’s record of $143 a barrel, the Associated Press reported.

Even though gasoline prices appear fluid, AAA predicts the increases will force some Fourth of July travelers to stay home. Although an estimated 40.4 million Americans will travel by car over the holiday weekend, that number is 1.3 percent lower than 2007, said Pat Bridges, a local AAA spokeswoman.

It’s the first decrease in travel since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she said. In Tennessee, 760,889 residents are expected to travel, she said, an increase from 718,417 a year before.

“I gave up on making big trips a few years ago,” said Harold Patterson of Ringgold, Ga. “I wasn’t able to afford it when gas was $3 a gallon, and my paycheck hasn’t gotten any bigger since then.”

Mr. Patterson said he plans to enjoy the holiday in his backyard. The only gas he’ll use is in the tank connected to his propane grill, he said.

AAA surveys find that many travelers will make shorter trips over the holiday weekend, Ms. Bridges said, and once they’ve arrived at their destination, they’ll stay longer.

Barry Fountain of Nashville opted to bring his teenage daughter, Brianna, to Chattanooga with two friends rather than Orlando or the Outer Banks of North Carolina. They planned to visit the Tennessee Aquarium, Rock City and Lake Winnepesaukah over two days, he said.

“We can do more if we stay closer to home,” said Mr. Fountain. “We could go somewhere further away, but this trip is cheaper, and it let me bring her two friends, and they really like that.”

Neither AAA’s Mr. Green nor Rayola Dougher, a senior economic analyst for the American Petroleum Institute, would wager a guess on whether gasoline prices will increase this summer, but both said world demand for oil and a sluggish economy have led to this summer’s price increase, and those factors have not improved.

“That thin line between supply and demand is getting thinner on the world market,” said Ms. Dougher, whose employer is the trade group for the U.S. petroleum industry. “Buyers and sellers out there ... are worried about where that next barrel is going to come from.”

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