5/30/2008 11:12:00 AM Bermudians 'driving less' to avoid sting of high gas prices
Prices pump-up: Driver Terri McCarthy and passenger Dreko Seaman, of Pembroke, were among those filling up at the BIU gas station in Hamilton yesterday. Mr. Seaman said: ‘Normally, the price creeps up and you don't notice — now we're really feeling it’. *Photo by Tim Hall
Signs are emerging that Bermudians are beginning to cut back on their driving as they feel the price crunch at the gas pumps.
A gallon of gas costs $7.72 this month - almost a full dollar more than in May last year. The startling rise is a result of spiralling world oil prices, which reached $135 a barrel for the first time this month.
David Rose, general manager of Rubis Energy, said he had begun to see a drop in the amount of gasoline his company sells to gas stations.
He said: "The prices are set by Government, based on world trends. Prices have been going up steadily, too steadily in most people's minds. It's bad for our business, because people start to think about the amount of gas they're buying.
"Our demand has dropped slightly because the price is so high."
Jimmy Diep, manager of the Van Buren gas station in Flatts, said that customers who used to say "fill her up" are now beginning to ask for set dollar amounts.
He said: "I've been manager here for 27 years and I've never seen prices go up that sharply. People ask for 30, 40 dollars and then complain that they didn't get much. They just shake their heads.
"People with SUVs are spending perhaps 90, 100 dollars [at a time.] They are feeling it, and people with boats are feeling it. They are used to spending a few hundred dollars, but they are spending six, seven hundred dollars."
The squeeze at the gas pumps comes alongside a hike in electricity bills and rising cost of food.
The Bermuda Sun reported this week that the average BELCO bill is more than a fifth heftier than a year ago and is predicted to rise by up to 10 per cent more by the middle of the summer.
It followed our report that the cost of some staple foods had increased by up to 20 per cent in recent months.
Rising oil prices drive up the cost of food because importers are forced to spend more on fuel bringing goods to the island and stores are forced to pay more in electricity.
Experts say that even higher prices are on the way - there is a two-month lag effect before the most recent jump in world oil prices impacts on the island.
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, May 31, 2008
Comment by:
Bermudian in the UK
For unleaded, I'm paying the equivalent of $9.76 here in the UK! (that's per American gallon; per Imperial gallon it's $11.71.
