Oil Down but Gas is Up
CHETRY: New this morning, an Australian court has identified a 34-year-old man as a suspect in the country's deadly wildfires. We also now have new images to show you of that deadly inferno from one of our iReporters in southern Australia. Officials now say 189 people were killed in that string of fires across Victoria. Right now, police in California looking for leads after thieves stole a one of a kind bike belonging to Lance Armstrong. That bike was taken from a team truck hours after he rode it Saturday. Armstrong warning it would be hard to pawn it off because, quote, "There's only one like it in the world." He's also offering a reward. One of his teammates' bikes also stolen. And this morning, gas prices holding steady for the most part after 18 straight days of increases and the rise in the prices comes at the same time that oil prices have actually plunged from their record high of nearly $150 a barrel last summer. So what gives? Well, we sent Allan Chernoff to take a look.</s>ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Have you noticed prices at the pump. They're heading back up?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's strange, and I'm not liking it.</s>CHERNOFF (on camera): Up 31 cents a gallon so far this year.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hurts when you're on a fixed income. You have money going out, you don't have that much coming in.</s>CHERNOFF (voice-over): At a time when the price of crude oil has been sinking.</s>JIM DONOVAN, OWNER, TEANECK SHELL: It does seem kind of strange.</s>CHERNOFF (on camera): Station owner Jim Donovan says he's not making any more profit.</s>DONOVAN: We're pretty much set at the same profit whether you're paying $3 at the pump or paying $1.85 at the pump.</s>CHERNOFF: So if you're not making a lot more money in this environment, who is? If the price is going up, somebody has got to be making money.</s>DONOVAN: Well, I guess it's the oil companies that are making the money. But it's not us.</s>CHERNOFF: It's the gasoline refiners who are profiting from these higher prices and the prices could keep on climbing, because this time of year, refiners always shut some of their facilities for maintenance.</s>PETER BEUTEL, OIL ANALYST, CAMERON HANOVER: We've seen refineries going through maintenance during the months of January, February, March and April. It isn't really until we get into the second half of May that refineries are ready to run all out for the summer.</s>CHERNOFF (voice-over): The wildcard affecting gas prices, how much will Americans drive? We've put the brakes on our driving since gas hit $3 a gallon in late 2007. But in the past few week, gasoline demand has stabilized, meaning prices got low enough that Americans have been putting their feet back on the pedal. Even in these tough economic times. Allan Chernoff, CNN, Teaneck, New Jersey.</s>ROBERTS: You know, when gas is down around $1.65, $1.70 a galloon, it is easier to get back in the car and put your foot in the accelerator. But there's a -- you don't want to say that there's a glut of oil in the United States, but certainly supplies of actual raw materials are up so it's just that refining bottleneck.</s>CHETRY: Yes. It's the same story we've been talking about forever. We haven't built a new refinery in what 25 years in this country, and you know, people don't want it in their backyard.</s>ROBERTS: You know, there's a lot of people in this country who are really hurting. And for gas to go back up to $2 a gallon, it's going to take a bite out of a lot of people's pockets.</s>CHETRY: Exactly.</s>ROBERTS: Keep that in mind.</s>CHETRY: Many stimulus.</s>ROBERTS: It's 44 minutes after the hour. Real-life drama over a daytime TV storyline.</s>LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: A lesbian wedding? Now that's a first.</s>ROBERTS (voice-over): The buzz, the backlash.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a lot of things that people really don't want to see and lesbian weddings are certainly one of them.</s>ROBERTS: We're behind the scenes as the actresses say "I do".</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The other part of Erica is like oh, hurray.</s>ROBERTS: You're watching the Most News in the Morning.