Gas Prices Almost $4 in Mountain View

The price of a gallon of gasoline has steadily increased and now threatens to reach $4 levels in Mountain View.  Though disgruntled, locals feel they have their hands tied.

"I went to Mexico not too long ago, and gas was $3.20, and when I returned it was $3.80," Hector Alarcon, 44, a resident of Sylvan Avenue, said as he pumped gas for $3.83 per gallon at the on El Camino and Sylvan Avenune. "I don't know how we fix this."

Across the United States, fuel prices have shot up since the latest conflicts in the Middle East began, prompted by disruptions to the petroleum supply. These international factors couldn't come at a worse time as people in and around Mountain View continue to feel the impact of the nation's struggling domestic economy.

"This is affecting me a lot, because these days my situation is difficult," said Alarcon, who drives to San Jose for work and hasn't had an increase in wages. "It's been almost two years since [gas] reached $4, and I find that's expensive for gasoline. I don't understand why gasoline goes up so much."

According to Maria Villegas, the gas attendant at the Shell Station on El Camino Real, people haven't complained too much, despite a 15-cent increase in gas in the past week. Villegas, who has worked at the station for the past 15 years, remembers when gas was as cheap as $1.99.

In 2008, she witnessed gas increase to $4.72. That year, a barrel of oil peaked at $106.91 as it traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Sept. 29, 2008—pressured by instability in the value of the U.S. dollar and the recession. Last week on Feb. 24, a barrel rose to $103.41.

The AAA's gas price finder noted that on Sunday the price for a regular gallon of gasoline reached $3.99 in Mountain View at the at Shoreline Boulevard and Middlefield Road. On Feb. 23, the on San Antonio Road in Palo Alto had the area's lowest regular gallon at $3.66.

But a lot has happened in the week, including the growing unrest in Libya.

An employee at a Mountain View company, Anthony Wilson commutes every day from Hayward. As he pumped gas at the station on Moffett Boulevard on Middlefield Road, Wilson blamed the price on the oil companies.

"Can I use expletives?" Wilson, 53, said about the price of a gallon at $3.79. "I think that we are being gouged again. I think that the oil folks are looking to pad their pockets, and they are using the Mid-East conflict as an excuse."

Wilson shared that the price of gas has forced him to change his driving habits. He drives a round-trip of about 50 miles daily, so on weekends he stays home.

"It's better for the environment, and it puts less money in the pockets of oil companies," he said. 

In contrast, at the same gas station, Stephen James said the price of gas didn't affect his habits. James referenced his life in Europe prior to the United States for his mindset.

"For me, gas is still cheaper than I used to pay," said the 43-year-old Englishman, who immigrated 10 years ago. "Gas is expensive by some standards, and I really don't change my habits. It's not expensive enough yet."

However, back at the Shell on El Camino, Sunnyvale resident Brian Lewis did think gas was too high. But he would just have to find a way to cope.

"I just have to deal with it," said Lewis, 26, a truck driver. "I have to get back and forth to work."