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AAA Hoosier Motor Club Gas Gauge
(Aug. 13, 2008)

National Unleaded Retail Gas Price Averages

Indiana’s Unleaded Retail Gas Price Averages

Highest Recorded Price:

Market Overview
The nationwide average price of self-serve regular gasoline has fallen 30 cents in the last month yet still remains a dollar or so more expensive than it was at this time last year.

With crude oil trading near $115 per barrel yesterday – a drop of approximately $5 per barrel in one week – it’s likely that nationwide gas price averages will continue their downward trend.

Despite what should have been an incredibly nervous situation for oil markets during the last few days, traders shrugged off Russia’s military incursion into Georgia as a non-event. This is highly significant because it is the first time this decade that military activity in an oil sensitive region of the world has failed to spark an oil market rally. Georgia is a transit point for oil moving to the West via a pipeline linking the Caspian and Black Seas. It also is a key U.S. ally in the northern most region of the Middle East and has been a strong supporter of Israel and a critic of Iran.

What in previous months would have propelled prices higher across the petroleum trading complex instead provided only a pause on the way to lower prices. Many industry experts now believe this can only mean that oil traders are deeply concerned that oil and gasoline futures prices have significantly outrun actual demand - at least for the next few months - and that long-speculative positions in oil and gasoline are no longer the flavor du jour in the New York and London commodity markets.

This correction in energy pricing is obviously healthy for both markets and consumers. With prices dramatically off their recent highs, market observers will now be looking for the slower economy and the resulting readjustment of expectations regarding future energy supply and demand to establish a floor beneath the price of oil and gasoline over the next few months. How low that floor will be is hard to guess.

Tips for Stretching a Tank of Gas

According to recent statistics, a neglected car can increase fuel consumption by 10 to 20 percent. Individual driving habits also make a difference. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that practicing fuel efficient driving techniques can improve fuel mileage by more than 10 percent.

• Check tire pressure regularly. Under inflated tires can cause fuel consumption to increase by 6 percent. Radial tires can be under inflated and still look normal.
• Keep your suspension and steering in proper alignment and make sure your brakes are properly adjusted to minimize rolling resistance.
• Change your motor oil as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer.
• Replace the air filter. An air filter clogged with dirt, dust and bugs chokes off air to your engine and creates a “rich” mixture—meaning too much gas is being burned for the amount of air. Replacing a clogged air filter can improve gas mileage by up to 10 percent.
• Inspect the gas cap. It’s estimated that nearly 17 percent of vehicles on the road today have gas caps that are damaged, loose or missing. Without the proper seal of a gas cap, fuel is simply wasted through vaporizing.
• Change your spark plugs regularly. A vehicle can have four, six or eight spark plugs, which fire as many as 3 million times every 1,000 miles. A dirty spark plug causes misfiring, which wastes fuel.
• Don't use premium fuel if your car doesn’t require it. The expense is not necessary.
• Observe the speed limit. Gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, each 5 mph driven above 60 mph is like paying an additional 20 cents per gallon of gas.
• Use your overdrive gears during highway driving. This decreases your car’s engine speed, reducing fuel consumption and engine wear.
• Take advantage of cruise control features to help you maintain a constant speed when traveling on highways.
• Avoid hard acceleration and drive defensively; try to brake and accelerate smoothly.
• Idling unnecessarily wastes fuel.
• Combine errands. Plan your day so you can run multiple errands in one trip. Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as a longer, multi-purpose trip covering the same distance.
• If possible, take advantage of carpools or ride-share programs.
• Take a load off your wheels. An extra 100 pounds can cut fuel efficiency by 2 percent.
• Travel light. A loaded roof rack can decrease fuel economy by 5 percent.

AAA

AAA Hoosier Motor Club is a fully tax-paying, not-for-profit corporation that offers a wide range of services. The 405,000-member affiliate of the American Automobile Association (AAA) works for the improvement of motoring and traveling conditions within its 50-county Indiana territory. AAA is the largest motoring and traveling organization in the world with more than 51 million members.

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