Chatom Residents Adapted to High Gas Prices in 2008
A 2008 WKRG report examined how rising gasoline prices affected Chatom residents, who said they combined errands to reduce trips into town.
Historical report preserved from an archived 2008 local news story.
Rising gasoline prices were changing routines for residents of Chatom in Washington County in 2008, according to an archived local news report. One resident who lived 13 miles outside town said she combined shopping, work and other errands into a single trip whenever she came to Chatom in order to adapt to the economy. The report compared gasoline prices across the Gulf Coast, listing prices of $3.92 in Pensacola, $3.89 in Mobile and $3.87 in Biloxi. This article records fuel-price pressures reported in 2008 and is not a statement of current gasoline prices.
The 2008 price spike
The prices in the report came during the steepest run-up in gasoline prices the country had seen to that point. Crude oil peaked at about $147 a barrel in July 2008, and the national average price of regular gasoline passed $4 a gallon for the first time that summer.
The spike did not last. As the financial crisis took hold in the fall of 2008 and fuel demand fell, pump prices dropped sharply, and by the end of the year the national average had fallen below $2 a gallon.
