Gas prices jump as assault starts; 20-cent-a-gallon increase seen ...

[Newsjock]

http://news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060317/NEWS01/603170416/1075

By Michelle L. Start
Originally posted on March 17, 2006

Operation Swarmer, happening half a world away in Iraq, is having a direct and immediate impact on local consumers at the gas pump.

Launched on Thursday, it is the largest American air strike since the war started in March 2003 and also involves a ground assault.

At the Citgo gas station on Fowler Street, owner Sam Fatayel, 33, said the situation in Iraq is to blame for the latest price increases at the pump.

"They raise it every week," he said. "Every week, it goes up 10 cents. They raise it on me. I raise it on them."

At some gas stations in Lee County, the price increased more than 20 cents after Operation Swarmer started.

more