Q: It seems like the gas prices started going up after the oil spill in the Gulf and Katrina. What was the price of gas per gallon then compared to the price today? Since we have had no more disasters such as this, why is it still rising?
-- Ruby Cook, Cumming
A: Gas prices have increased every year between February and late May since 2000, according to The Associated Press, including rising an average of 48 cents a gallon, or 14 percent, since Feb. 1 of this year. Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, about two weeks after the average gas price had reached what was then a record high of $2.50 a gallon nationally and $2.49 a gallon in Atlanta, according to CNN.com. Prices rise every spring as refineries and oil companies slow production so they can repair equipment and produce their summer blends of gas, the AP article stated. Also, "strong global demand, heightened tensions with Iran and a smattering of supply disruptions have kept crude oil prices elevated for months," the AP reported, citing that three refineries serving the East Coast closed last fall. The oil to make gas has averaged $120 a barrel in 2012; it was $67 a barrel in 2005.
Q: Internationally, there is Bathurst; nationally, there is Lindenhurst. Here in Georgia, we have Hazlehurst and Pinehurst, and Alabama has Fruithurst. So, what is a hurst?
-- Jock Ellis, Cumming
A: Hurst means a wooded hill, according to the Royal Forestry Society and Dictionary.com. Hurst or horst is the German spelling; the old English spelling was hyrst.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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