CLEVELAND, Updated 6:35 p.m. EST March 11, 2004 -- Gas stations across northeast Ohio did brisk business Thursday, as gas prices held steady in the relatively reasonable $1.60-range.
But with the possibility of gas prices soaring to $2 a gallon, people are concerned with how these high prices will affect their lives.
"We need our cars for running errands and doing other things so we don't have a choice, we have to pay the price … we don't like it," said one consumer.
People are also rethinking the kind of car they're driving.
At Montrose Toyota, the demand for the new gasoline-electric hybrid, the Prius, has been astonishing.
With a mileage of 60 miles to the gallon in the city, people are thinking about the hybrids much more, after sport utility vehicles have been popular for years.
"Fuel economy is definitely in everyone's mind, and you can go to the extreme with the hybrid vehicle, or you can buy a smaller vehicle with great gas mileage," said Brandon McGuinness, of Montrose Toyota.
Meanwhile, the price for regular unleaded fuel has ranged from about a $1.58 per gallon, which is cheap compared to prices in California where the cost of a gallon now averages $2.17.
AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded is $1.73. In many states, the average jumped more than 1 cent per gallon last weekend.
For every gallon of gas you buy, about 27 percent goes directly to the government, 10 percent goes to getting the gas to the station and advertising, and 16 percent for refining the crude into gas accounts. The rest, almost half, is dependent entirely on the price of crude oil.
In a letter to top executives at seven major oil companies Tuesday, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist asked them to justify why gas prices in the state reached $1.74 a gallon -- an all-time high according to the AAA.
"No significant factors are dramatically affecting output but, for some reason, the industry seems unprepared for extraneous events," he wrote.
Crist is asking for another meeting with the companies next week, saying this will be an important agenda item when he travels to Washington for a meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General.
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