As she pumped $1.39-a-gallon gasoline into the tank of her silver Volvo station wagon at an Exxon station on Charles Street, Carolyn Miller questioned the latest report on the cost of living.
"I read in the paper that consumer prices rose only a fraction of a percent," said the 34-year old lawyer who lives in Fells Point. "I think they're crazy. It seems like I'm paying more for a lot of things these days, especially gasoline."
She's right.
The cost of a fill-up has risen sharply in recent weeks, and industry officials are telling consumers to brace themselves for another hefty increase at the first of next year.
Gasoline prices have posted their biggest monthly increase in five years, according to a survey by the Maryland Division of the American Automobile Association Mid-Atlantic.
Karen Black, a spokeswoman for AAA, said the 6.5 cents-a-gallon increase in the pump price of self-serve, midgrade gas to $1.325 this month marked the biggest gain since Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.
According to the AAA survey, the average self-serve regular rose 6.4 cents to $1.204, and self-serve premium was up 5.8 cents to $1.395.
The latest price increases were on top of a nickel-a-gallon increase in August sparked by rising demand and market jitters brought on by a strike of oil workers in Nigeria.
The AAA figures are based on a survey of 30 stations throughout the state on Nov. 11. Those don't tell the full story, according to one industry official.
Roy Littlefield, executive director of the Washington Maryland Delaware and Pennsylvania Service Station and Automotive Repair Association, said the price that station owners pay for their gas has risen 11 cents over the past four weeks. Many of the 1,500 Maryland stations belonging to the trade group have not passed the full increase on to their customers, he said.
"Price have held pretty steady this week," Paul D. Russell, the owner of the Cross Keys Exxon station at Falls Road and 'D Coldspring Lane in the Medfield section of the city, said late last week.
"But we were being battered by prices increases eight to 10 days ago. It was boom, boom, boom -- a price increase every other day," he said.
"They went up 4 cents one day, 2 cents another day, 2 cents again, and 1 cent. We could hardly keep up with them."
There is no single reason for the increase, according to industry officials. It's a combination of things, including the recent flood in Houston that ruptured the main pipeline, which serves this part of the country.
"Forty percent of the gasoline coming into Maryland flows through the Colonial pipeline," said Mr. Littlefield. "It caused a disruption that will likely last six to eight weeks. With a shortage of that type you usually see a price increase almost immediately."
The Houston disruption came just weeks before dealers in the Baltimore area had to begin selling oxygenated fuels, which add about 4 cents to the cost of a gallon of gas.
The oxygen-rich gas is designed to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide emitted when a vehicle's engine warms up in cold weather. The 1990 federal Clean Air Act requires stations in Baltimore and other cities that have pollution problems to pump the cleaner-burning, but more expensive, fuel between Nov. 1 and March 1.
Consumer demand is also putting pressure on gas prices, Mr. Coale said. At this time, he said, "demand is bumping up against capacity."
"Over the past four years," Mr. Coale said, "there has been a surplus of petroleum on the market that has helped to hold prices down."
This is no longer the situation, according to the Crown spokesman. He said that while there is no shortage of oil in the ground, the industry's ability to pump and refine oil is reaching its capacity.
"About the only thing that can change this anytime soon," Mr. Coale said, "is Iraq coming back and putting 10 million barrels of oil on the market. I don't see this happening anytime soon, especially considering its shenanigans in recent weeks."
Mr. Littlefield said consumers can expect another gas price increase beginning Jan. 1.
He warned that it may be a big one.
This is when service stations in nine highly populated areas, including Baltimore, must begin selling what is called reformulated gasoline.
RFG, as it's referred to within the industry, is a new fuel designed to reduce pollution by 15 percent compared to gasoline sold in 1990.
Mr. Littlefield said the Environmental Protection Agency is estimating that the new fuel will add between 3 and 8 cents to the pump price of a gallon of gasoline.
"But some people in the industry are saying that it can add 20 cents, maybe even 27 cents to the cost of a gallon of gas," said Mr. Littlefield.