$3.199 a gallon

That's what I saw at one of the area's largest convenience store chains today, but it's not the record. Those of you with long memories might recall that gasoline was selling for $3.449 a gallonin these parts on May 22 of this year. Should you be interested, record prices locally:

8/3/06: $3.159
5/3/07: $3.199
5/15/07: $3.299
5/22/07: $3.449

Remember back on Aug. 5, 2005, when we were shocked that the pump price reached an all-time high of $2.459. Oh, how we want those days back.

My theory is that the price is headed for $3.50 or more, but retailers know they can't raise the pump price 50 cents overnight, so we're in for several weeks of incremental increases. That assumes the price of crude oil remains at or near $90 a barrel between now and then.

I seem to remember reading that gasoline has been underpriced for several weeks, so even if crude goes down, I doubt that retail prices will fall very fast.

These are merely my guesses. I got out of the prophecy business years ago.