$4 Gas On Way?

The price of gas impacts green industry businesses more than many others. The average cost of a gallon will soon approach $3.50, several experts say.

And you thought $3 a gallon sounded high?

Don't be too surprised if we hit $4 a gallon, and that could come within the next month, said Ben Brockwell, director of oil prices and information at Oil Price Information Service.

"Unless this market calms down quickly, you're looking at $4 gas," said Brockwell.

Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc in the Gulf Coast region, where more than a quarter of the nation's oil is produced. One rig lifted off its mooring and crashed into a bridge in Mobile, Ala., while several others were floating in the gulf.

At the same time, some 10% of the nation's refineries are in the Gulf Coast region. In some cases, companies that run refineries haven't even been able to get to their plants, while other refineries have been flooded.

And power outages in the southeast have made it more difficult for places like New York to get gas.

"Every kink in the supply chain is royally messed up right now," said Seth Kleinman, an energy analyst with PFC Energy in Washington. "This is a real big problem."

While oil experts differed somewhat in just how high prices at the pump could climb in the next month, with some predicting $3.50, they said the cost of gas will likely climb as much as a half dollar in the next few days.

"By Labor Day weekend, prices will be up 20 cents to 50 cents a gallon," predicted Peter Beutel, the president of Cameron Hanover, an energy risk management firm in New Canaan, Conn.

Regardless of what you're driving, that increase could put the squeeze on your budget.

At the high end of the predicted increase for filling your tank, that could mean a Hummer owner will have to pay a staggering $112.42, or $16.10 more than it cost yesterday.

A Honda Accord driver would have to fork over $55.71, or $8.54 more than it currently costs.

And finally, the driver of a Ford Focus, which has a smaller, 14-gallon gas tank, would have to pay $45.61, or close to $7 more.

Because of the hurricane, "The price of gas is going up ?EUR??,,????'??+ the question is not if, it's by how much," said Fadel Gheit, a senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer & Co.

Even the most optimistic oil analysts say higher prices are inevitable.

"It's possible (we'll see $4), but I don't think so," said David Pursell, a partner at Pickering Energy Partners. Pursell expects prices to stay around $3 a gallon.

?EUR??,,????'??+New York Daily News