Hey there gang. Just got back from a relaxing vacation in Mexico, but I'm glad to see that TOD had an excellent week while I was away (although, I have to say that it was nice to not think too much about peak oil for a week.) Well, I've come back to a lot of "real" work, but I wanted to say hi again and kick off the week with a little idle speculation.

Today's NY Times article about gas prices contains the following paragraph. According to the Lundberg Survey*:

Demand for gas will remain high through August, but should drop after Labor Day. Prices should soften after that assuming underlying crude oil prices hold stable and refinery activity and shipments aren't interrupted by natural disasters, such as major hurricanes, Lundberg said.

So, what do you think? Are gas prices going to "soften" after Labor Day? I'm going to guess no, not really. I got scared yesterday when I saw, for the first time ever, $3.03/gallon. Granted, it was for the highest grade of gasoline, but it was at a station outside the Holland Tunnel—in New Jersey.

*From the Lundberg Survey's website: "Lundberg Survey, Incorporated (LSI) is an independent market research company specialized in the U.S. petroleum marketing and related industries. For over half a century it has provided statistical reports and publications to the oil industry and other users. Born in the 1950s when self-service was being invented, LSI is the local and national source of fuel prices, fuel taxes, station population studies, and market shares. It is often quoted in the news media for retail prices and interpretation of trends affecting consumers."

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