Gas hits $7.72 a gallon on Island

Extracted from the Royal Gazette (www.theroyalgazette.com)

By Tari Trott

The cost of a gallon of gas is nearing the $8 mark – as business leaders warn increases in oil costs will be passed onto the consumer. Oil prices have been rocketing with record prices being recorded, earlier this week the price of a barrel of oil reached $135. In Bermuda this week gasoline increased by 11.3 cents per litre, diesel by 10.7 cents per litre and kerosene by 9.5 cents per litre. As a result the maximum retail prices that can be displayed on the pumps for gasoline is $2.04 per litre ($7.72 a gallon in America), 196.90 cents per litre for diesel and 171.10 cents per litre for kerosene.

Chamber of Commerce President Mr. Phillip Barnett told The Royal Gazette: "Obviously the affect we will feel in Bermuda is going to be that much more profound. "This is Mr. Barnett added: "Our concern is the price will effect the cost of electricity. Segments like the water sports division will be very concerned because this will impact their profitability. "Also, our offshore charter fishermen will see a significant impact and I think we can only hope that the talk of (increasing fuel prices) and us being in a bubble and the prices will eventually decrease — there's some validity to that. Every person in Bermuda will be affected by this because fuel increases touch on everything because we ship virtually everything in."

Environmentalist Stuart Hayward, also the head of the Bermuda Environment and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) cautioned that the fuel price rise might have an impact on visitors. He explained: "Given that many US residents are curbing their holiday travel (driving) due to rising gas prices, Bermuda may well find our potential visitors cutting back also — which, if so, would decrease incoming foreign exchange.

Our driving habits, particularly of larger two and four-wheeled vehicles at faster speeds, will increase our foreign expenditures (for vehicles, repair parts, and gas). So at the 'macro level' we have less money coming in combined with more money going out, with no increase in derived value to show for our trouble." And he predicted that residents are likely to resort to using their bicycles for transport as a cost-cutting measure.

According to the New York Times oil prices leapt above $135 a barrel in overnight trading on Thursday, a new record that underscored the growing pressures that runaway energy prices are placing on some of the biggest names in global industry. Prices fell back in the course of the day, the paper reported, closing at $130.81 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline prices are nearing $4 a gallon in the United States, partly as a result of a 39 percent rise in the price of New York oil futures since the start of the year. Prices have more than quadrupled since 2003.

American Airlines said on Wednesday that it would slash flights and begin charging passengers to check bags, part of a company effort to cut costs in the face of skyrocketing fuel prices. It is also charging $15 for the first piece of luggage, although that only affects internal flights.

Oil futures spent months dancing around the $100 a barrel. But in the last two months, prices have taken off, gaining nearly $20 a barrel in May alone.

Lousy Weather this week!

Torrential downpour causes flooding misery
( Article is taken from the Bermuda Sun)
The island took a battering as torrential downpours caused flash flooding. The freak rain storm on Monday resulted in scores of reports of flooding to the emergency services. Motorcycles could be seen floating as water overflowed into people's homes and businesses. Six feet of water was also reported at a classroom in Warwick Academy. Severe flooding affected many of the island's roads with police advising motorists not to drive through areas where water had accumulated. Roads badly affected by flooding included Tee Street in Devonshire, Dundonald Street in Hamilton, and South Shore Road, near Demco florist in Devonshire. Parts of Harbour Road were closed to traffic in order to avoid people stalling their vehicles and causing further road congestion. And Woodlands Road was blocked off after a creek overflowed. This was the second torrential downpour in just a week after a severe thunder storm crossed the island last Tuesday evening.


Getting his feet wet: A motorist rolls up his pants and wades through the water to get to his car in Dutton Lane, near Bernard Park. *Photo by Mark Kennedy


Need a ride? Michael Cabral who works at Redlaser and a worker from COE, both located on Bakery Lane in Pembroke, used an inflatable boat to get to work. *Photo by Chris Ingham



Driving hazard: Driving around the island became difficult as several low lying areas, including roads near Butterfield and Vallis, were affected by flooding on Monday. *Photo by Mark Kennedy



While our friends in Calgary are basking in unseasonably warm weather especially for Victoria Day weekend when it almost always snows! [80 F/ 27C ] we have been having a ton of rain lately ( 281.7mm or just over 11 inches in the last month)

I am getting tired of this crazy weather we are having lately! Doesn't help that we have such a bad case of island fever right now but thankfully we are getting away next week and heading off to Boston for a big city hit. (Its been a bit over 3 months since I was last off and while we love living here for the most part, we always feel like we are ready to snap if we don't get out of here for at least a week every quarter.)

This last week has seen some wicked "cold fronts" blow through here bringing the rain and high winds that are the after effects of the tornados in the states. Temperatures are still in the 70's but the winds have been gusting to gale force, so spring so far has been a pretty mixed bag.