Chattanooga area gas prices plunging

photo Larry McNabb, who has pumped gas and worked on vehicles at Parker's Citgo on Brainerd Road for 15 years, gets ready to start the pump for another vehicle Tuesday. The station offers full service or self-service pumps.

Make sure to burn every drop in your gas tank before refueling -- pump prices are expected to drop daily for the next few weeks.

Crude oil prices are expected to decline globally following the United State's debt rating downgrade Friday.

"It's a weird situation," said AAA spokesman Jeff Lennox. "Whenever you talk about poor economic news, it's good news for the pumps."

Prices have been hovering between $3.50 and $3.60 in Chattanooga since mid-July, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. An average gallon of regular fuel cost about $3.54 per gallon on Tuesday, down about 4 cents from last week.

As crude oil responds to the pressures of a bad economy, Lennox expects gas prices to slide a cent or two daily for the next couple weeks. Benchmark crude oil fell $2.01 per barrel on Tuesday to $79.30 per barrel.

"We expect that to continue, but what could turn it around is if the value of the dollar declines," Lennox said. "It's a very fluid situation, a very volatile situation. But we do expect prices to trend downward."

Aside from a potential decline in the value of the dollar, Lennox said, natural disasters, government instability in oil producing countries or an unexpected rebound in the American and global economies could cause gas prices to move the other way.

"I don't think there's any one specific thing that factors into why gas prices do what they do," Lennox said. "It's everything in one bag."

In decades of working at her husband's gas station, LeeAnn Parker has seen gas prices as low as 70 cents and high as nearly $5. She said there's no way to safely say how much gas prices will change.

"They're going to fluctuate. Nobody can tell you what it's going to do," she said. "That's the trillion dollar question."

Though most consumers revel in the gas pump relief, for the Parker family's small, full-service Citgo station on Brainerd Road, price fluctuations cause problems.

When Parker's Auto Service fills its storage tank, it purchases fuel at the day's rate. If prices drop, the outlet is stuck for weeks either selling gas at a loss or keeping prices higher than those of competitors.

Parker sees the dilemma simply as a cost of doing business.

"Why worry about something you can't control?" she said.

Of course, drivers appreciate any dip in prices.

Jeffrey Bell, a 16-year-old Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences student, often gets gas at Parker's. One of several customers who leave a tab open at the shop, Bell charges his fuel to his parent's account.

That's not to say his parents don't notice when gas prices bump up.

"I get sad every time because my dad starts complaining about me going places," he said.

Regardless of increases or decreases, customers continue returning to Parker's, owner Robert Parker said. Service and employees' personal relationships keep customers coming back and keeps them from complaining about the cost of fuel.

And as prices drop, he expects customers will continue that trend.

"People talk about it. They communicate about it, but they don't complain," he said.

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