High Gas Prices
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Sky-high gas prices

Sky-high gas prices will fall noticeably in the coming weeks, settling in at around 2.60 dollars per gallon by the end of the year, a federal energy official told a congressional panel.

Guy Caruso, administrator of the Energy Information Administration, told a hearing of the Senate Energy Committee that he expected prices to fall another 20 cents in early 2006.

The estimates came from the US Energy Department's short-term energy outlook released this week, which said the average retail price of regular gasoline jumped by 45.9 cents to a record 3.069 dollars a gallon last week in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

Gasoline prices are now up 66 percent from a year ago, the department said, and despite predictions that prices have peaked, some lawmakers said they feared prices could still climb much higher.

Republican Lisa Murkowski said at the hearing that at the current rate, oil prices could top 100 dollars a barrel in the not-so-distant future.

"That's not so far out of the realm of possibility," she said.

Lawmakers offered various action plans. Senate Democrat Jon Corzine called on the administration to give consumers a break by allowing a federal "gas tax holiday."

Another senior Senate Democrat said he planned to introduce legislation Wednesday to provide US consumers relief at the gas pump.

The bill by Senator Byron Dorgan, "The Windfall Profits Rebate Act," would target recent huge revenue increases enjoyed by oil companies and refineries.

Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Carl Levin called Tuesday for 1970s-style price controls to be slapped on gasoline.

Republican senator George Allen, meanwhile, blamed "price-gouging" for the hefty increases in gas prices following Hurricane Katrina, and called for an investigation of any gas station that has raised prices more than 50 cents a gallon on a single day.

Several other Republican senators said at the hearing that Congress should open federal lands for oil and natural gas exploration, including the protected lands of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, to increase energy supplies. ?AFP
Sky-high gas prices will fall noticeably in the coming weeks, settling in at around 2.60 dollars per gallon by the end of the year, a federal energy official told a congressional panel.

Guy Caruso, administrator of the Energy Information Administration, told a hearing of the Senate Energy Committee that he expected prices to fall another 20 cents in early 2006.

The estimates came from the US Energy Department's short-term energy outlook released this week, which said the average retail price of regular gasoline jumped by 45.9 cents to a record 3.069 dollars a gallon last week in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

Gasoline prices are now up 66 percent from a year ago, the department said, and despite predictions that prices have peaked, some lawmakers said they feared prices could still climb much higher.

Republican Lisa Murkowski said at the hearing that at the current rate, oil prices could top 100 dollars a barrel in the not-so-distant future.

"That's not so far out of the realm of possibility," she said.

Lawmakers offered various action plans. Senate Democrat Jon Corzine called on the administration to give consumers a break by allowing a federal "gas tax holiday."

Another senior Senate Democrat said he planned to introduce legislation Wednesday to provide US consumers relief at the gas pump.

The bill by Senator Byron Dorgan, "The Windfall Profits Rebate Act," would target recent huge revenue increases enjoyed by oil companies and refineries.

Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Carl Levin called Tuesday for 1970s-style price controls to be slapped on gasoline.

Republican senator George Allen, meanwhile, blamed "price-gouging" for the hefty increases in gas prices following Hurricane Katrina, and called for an investigation of any gas station that has raised prices more than 50 cents a gallon on a single day.

Several other Republican senators said at the hearing that Congress should open federal lands for oil and natural gas exploration, including the protected lands of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, to increase energy supplies. ?AFP