On the eve of the Labor Day weekend, U.S. gasoline supplies are shrinking, a possible harbinger of higher prices at the pump in the coming months.
Nationwide, gas prices are up less than a penny from a year ago. But industry data released late Tuesday showed U.S. inventories of gasoline dwindling significantly ahead of the Labor Day holiday.
The American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. gasoline supplies shrank by 6.7 million barrels in the past week to 196.2 million barrels, or 3 million barrels below levels a year ago.
"If you're a refiner, it's a glorious end to the driving season," said Tom Kloza, director of Oil Pricing Information Service, a Lakewood, N.J., publisher of oil industry data. "If you're a consumer, you're probably annoyed."
Since Aug. 1, the wholesale price of gasoline has risen roughly 50 cents per gallon in Los Angeles and more than 10 cents a gallon in Houston, according to OPIS.
"There is a lot of momentum to take prices higher," said Kloza, adding that refineries in California and Oklahoma are having problems and that retail prices have already risen about 10 cents in the past two weeks.
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
