AAA Today

[#1]

Only once in the past 30 years have retail gasoline prices increased from October through December. The year was 2007. 

Average price per gallon for unleaded regular gas in U.S. dollars:

                  Oct. 1, 2007                   Dec. 31, 2007                   change

U.S.                  2.79                                  3.04                             .25

FL                     2.84                                  3.10                             .26

GA                    2.74                                  2.99                             .25

TN                    2.70                                  2.93                             .23

Source: AAA Fuel Gauge Report

Unfortunately, gasoline prices today look like they could outpace the Q4 price hikes of 2007.

Average price per gallon for unleaded regular gas in U.S. dollars:

                  Oct. 1, 2009                   Oct. 29, 2009                   change

U.S.                  2.46                                 2.69                             .23

FL                     2.40                                 2.73                             .33

GA                    2.27                                 2.57                             .30

TN                    2.27                                 2.54                             .27

Source: AAA Fuel Gauge Report

It was the precipitous price hikes of the Fourth Quarter 2007 that established an extremely high "floor" for prices in 2008 when they began their annual "spring climb." At the same time, the economy was in the early throes of the current recession. Like today, the weak dollar prompted a speculators' rally for crude oil. And we know what happened next...by July 2008, crude reached a record high of $147 per barrel, and the national average price of gasoline reached an all-time high of $4.11 per gallon on July 17, 2008.

That summer, the two candidates for president, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, agreed on at least one key issue: tighter controls on speculating investors to reduce the adverse effects on gasoline prices and consumers. 

Here's what The New York Times reported on June 23, 2008:

"Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, proposed closing the so-called Enron loophole, a legal provision requested by that company in 2000 that exempts crucial energy commodities from government oversight; preventing traders of American crude oil from routing transactions through offshore markets to evade American limits, and working with other countries to better regulate the oil futures markets.

"'My plan fully closes the Enron loophole and restores common-sense regulation,' Mr. Obama said."

That "loophole" remains intact today. It is recognized as a major obstacle to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rendering it unable to fully oversee the oil futures market and probe cases in which excessive speculation may be driving up oil prices.

Photo credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

[#2]

I totally agree! Something has to be done!