Gas prices continue to climb across region

By Bill Novak / Capital Newspapers

MADISON — A record price for oil Tuesday was the driving factor in gasoline prices hitting a record high of $3.69 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline in Madison on Wednesday, a 14 cent per gallon hike overnight. Prices jumped 12 cents a gallon in Baraboo, from $3.57 per gallon to $3.69 by Wednesday afternoon.

Shortly after 3 p.m., Baraboo resident Jen Baker was filling up her Mercury Mariner SUV at the Broadway Express Mart on Broadway at Sixth Avenue. A sign bearing the new, higher gas price loomed over her.

"I told (the cashier) I should have filled up this morning," she said. "I wait (until the) afternoon and it jumps 12 cents."

One remaining island of the old price was the Express Food Mart Amoco station at Parkway and South Boulevard.

Ralph Heiser of Baraboo said he needed to fill up, and found that all of the stations he passed along Highway 12 and South Boulevard had the higher price. He said he was expecting the jump after hearing news reports Tuesday evening.

"I needed the gas, and this was the place to buy it," he said. "Probably the only one left in town."

Express Mart employees said they expect the managers will raise the price later after returning from a trip out of town.

"We are seeing this all across the country," said Pam Moen, AAA Wisconsin public affairs director. "What the future holds, it's impossible to say."

The average price for regular in Wisconsin on Wednesday was $3.65 a gallon, up two cents from Tuesday and up 40 cents from a year ago.

Oil hit $122 a barrel for the first time Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange, according to the Associated Press.

The average price was at $3.55 a gallon for regular unleaded since last week, when motorists got a little respite in the price after oil dropped down to about $110 a barrel when the Federal Reserve cut interest rates.

Moen said prices will continue to climb as we approach Memorial Day, the unofficial start to summer and summer vacations and millions of people hitting the highways.

"We see a national average record of $3.75 a gallon for regular by Memorial Day," Moen said.

Normally, gasoline prices are driven by supply and demand, but that's not the case with the current price spikes, she said.

"This is being driven by speculative investing and weakness of the dollar," Moen said.

— News Republic reporter Brian D. Bridgeford contributed to this story.