CNN INTERNATIONAL - WORLD NEWS 03/14/00 GASOLINE PRICES MICHAEL HOLMES, CO-HOST: The United States' love for automobiles is becoming a rather costly affair. Tight oil supplies are sending gasoline prices through the roof, and there is no end in sight. CNN's Washington bureau chief Frank Sesno reports.</s>FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tight supplies of crude oil are behind the recent price hikes. Officials say U.S. oil inventories are at their lowest levels in four years. The same is true for the world's other rich countries. The crunch has boosted the average retail price of gasoline to include all grades and taxes to $1.59 a gallon. And consumers are feeling the pinch.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will cost me an extra $3 or $4 a fill-up I guess. But that will just be one less day I go to lunch.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Luckily, I only commute about five miles for work and back. But I think with the city of Atlanta with the commute being so long for the majority of the people, I think it will affect the traffic and the amount of driving. And hopefully, people will carpool.</s>SESNO: Here in the U.S., we've been accustomed to very cheap gas. A year ago, a glut on the world oil market slashed prices to $12 a barrel. In many cases, gasoline was well under $1 a gallon. But cuts in production worldwide since then pushed prices up to around $30 a barrel. Elsewhere, prices at the pump are far higher. In Western Europe, they're nearly three times as much as in the U.S. The price of premium is highest in the United Kingdom, the equivalent of $4.61 a gallon, followed by $4.22 a gallon in the Netherlands, $3.94 a gallon in France. Rising fuel prices are also affecting airfares with several major carriers matching Continental's weekend price hike of up to $40 per round trip ticket. Frank Sesno, CNN, Washington.
Tight Oil Supplies Are Sending Gasoline Prices Through The Roof