Transcripts

Higher Gas Prices Take A Memorial Day Holiday

LINDA 0'BRYON: Encouraging news tonight for the millions of Americans who are planning to hit the highways for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. It may not cost quite as much to fill your car`s gas tank. New government data today shows gasoline supplies rose a larger than expected 2.1 million barrels last week. That helped send crude oil prices tumbling almost $2 a barrel to close at $69.86. Stephanie Dhue reports.

STEPHANIE DHUE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Motorists looking to travel this weekend should find gas stations well stocked and prices slightly lower than last week. Those prices are being driven by an increase in fuel supplies.

DOUG MACINTYRE, OIL ANALYST, ENERGY INFORMATION AGENCY: Gasoline supplies in particular are likely to be sufficient, but not of such great quantity that we would see a dramatic drop in prices.

DHUE: Prices at the pump last week averaged $2.87 a gallon, a drop of about $0.06 from the week before. The Energy Information Agency expects prices to average $2.71 a gallon this summer. Lower prices may come as refineries come back online, including those damaged by hurricane Katrina and those that postponed routine maintenance from the fall.

ROBERT SLAUGHTER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL PETROCHEMICAL & REFINERS ASSOCIATION: We had more refinery maintenance than usual in the spring. That period is coming to and end and so those facilities are coming back online, which means an increase in production of gasoline, diesel and other fuels over what we`ve seen in the last few weeks.

DHUE: Pump prices are $0.75 a gallon higher than last year. Still, AAA expects more than 31 million travelers to hit the roads this weekend, about a 1 percent increase over last year.

MANTILL WILLIAMS, PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR, AAA: This is one of the smallest increases we`ve seen in three years. This compares to 2002 after 9/11 and also 2003. So usually we tend to see around a 2 percent increase.

DHUE: High gas prices have fueled heated emotions, but the financial impact on most Americans is relatively small. On a five-hour road trip, a $0.75 increase in a gallon of gas will cost a family of four about the same as the price of lunch. Stephanie Dhue, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.