There was a time (which I actually remember), when the current situation—war in the Middle East, much of the capacity of the Gulf of Mexico offline due to Hurricane Katrina—would have resulted in instant gas lines and huge price spikes. Now we just have to wait our turn for the austingasprices server. When the page comes up, you’ll see that prices here in Austin have actually gone down since the weekend. It’s tempting to say that opening the strategic petroleum reserve lowered the price, but since that doesn’t do anything to replace the refining capacity lost to the hurricane, it’s hard to see a direct connection. And looking at the futures market, I don’t expect these prices to last. As soon as local retailers and distributors sell the “cheap” gas out of their tanks, be prepared for a spike. But then no one was expecting that after Labor Day gas price drop this year, were they?