Are we headed for $4 gasoline?

The pups’ owners, Jessica Bush and Jeremiah Cantos, have traded in the really good chow for a lower-cost brand of dog kibble in a bid to cut back on expenses.

The cheaper pet food is just one concession Bush and Cantos have made to accommodate the springtime jump in gasoline prices.

A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline Friday in Las Vegas averaged $3.17, a penny shy of the local record price set nearly a year ago on May 17.

The statewide average reached a record of $3.24 on Friday, thanks in part to all-time highs in Northern Nevada. Reno posted a record of $3.38 on Tuesday and hovered at $3.37 Thursday and Friday.

The higher prices mean the gasoline tab for Bush’s 2001 Chevrolet Blazer has jumped from $30 per fill-up at the beginning of this year to $40 now.

As Bush gassed up at Fabulous Freddy’s on Fort Apache Road on Friday after a picnic at Mount Charleston with Can tos and the couple’s dogs, she and Cantos reeled off a roster of sacrifices yielded to steeper fuel prices.

Beyond the pet food, Bush doesn’t have her hair done anymore. And Campos quit smoking. He’s saving about $6 a day since he gave up his habit of a pack-and-a-half a day.

Pricier fuel also is affecting Cowboy Trail Rides, the business Bush’s family owns.

Cowboy Trail Rides has six trucks for hauling horses. Tanking up each truck now costs about $60, up from around $45 at the beginning of 2007, Bush said. The bigger expense is changing how Cowboy Trail Rides operates — forcing the company to buy hay in bulk, for example.

"(Higher fuel prices) hurt everybody, because we all have to drive to get to work," said Bush, a massage therapist at The Orleans. "They (oil companies) know we need gasoline, so that’s why they can raise prices. Gas is in demand."

That demand probably won’t wane in the coming months.

Michael Geeser, a spokesman for travel club AAA, said his company is predicting a slight increase in the number of tourists taking to the roads and skies during the summer.

"Prices have not risen high enough to change people’s driving behavior," Geeser said.

Though local fuel costs have flirted with the record for several days, drivers could catch a small, and temporary, break at the pump in the next few weeks.

Geeser and other gasoline experts say the refineries that convert crude oil into fuel have largely completed their springtime maintenance and their accompanying switch to summer blends. That means more refineries are producing gasoline, so the overall supply is increasing. Plus, imports have risen in recent days as overseas suppliers, lured by the high prices fuel is commanding, send gasoline stores to the United States.

Because of the boost in fuel inventories, California energy analyst David Hackett of Stillwater Associates said he expects prices to stabilize and even decline slightly through June, when school lets out and families begin their vacations.

Kevin Saville, managing editor of Platts Oilgram News, said prices could fall 10 cents to 15 cents a gallon in coming weeks as refineries rev up production and imports jump.

For some consumers, the price relief can’t come quickly enough.

Before Orlando Josol tanked up at Fabulous Freddy’s Friday afternoon, he dug out two free gasoline cards a business associate gave him a year ago.

It was the perfect time to cash in the gift: Josol’s income as a mortgage loan officer has suffered from the housing-market slowdown, just as gasoline prices have peaked.

Josol, who drives a 2005 Infiniti QX56, no longer buys premium fuel. His family isn’t eating out much anymore, and they’re spending less on clothes. Josol also is planning his errands more carefully and cutting out unnecessary trips.

"I’m really just driving to pick up the kids, to go to work and to get groceries," said Josol, who now spends about $70 per tank-up, compared with $50 at the beginning of the year.

If prices go up much more, Josol said, he’ll consider shedding the second family car, a BMW 530i.

For Peter Noh, a hotel-management student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the bigger bite fuel is taking out of his budget could result in a move.

Noh has already slashed his spending on food and new clothes, and he ditched his cell-phone plan for a cheaper alternative.

If prices go anywhere near $3.50 a gallon, "I’m going to face a huge problem," Noh said. His solution: He’d likely pack up and head from southwest Las Vegas to the city’s core, closer to UNLV.

He’s also considering swapping his Volvo S40, which costs about $40 per fill-up, for a hybrid.

Noh, Josol and other motorists who are shedding expenses to cover gasoline costs won’t like analysts’ forecasts of fuel prices at the summer’s end.

The Energy Information Administration is predicting a 15-cent decline in nationwide gasoline prices, from today’s $3.05 to $2.90 in June and July. But August traditionally brings new price gains, Saville said, as travelers hit the road for one last holiday before summer ends.

Throw in an active hurricane season that disrupts refineries along the Gulf Coast, along with political unrest in oil-producing hot spots such as Iran and Nigeria, and prices could jump noticeably by the fall. Even absent such events, gasoline prices in Nevada could be the same in August as they are now, Saville said.

Hackett sees significantly higher prices in the late summer if refineries or pipelines go off line and demand remains strong.

"I could make a case for $4 (a gallon) gasoline in August," Hackett said.

If gasoline does make it to $4 a gallon, Bush said, her family’s business has the perfect solution.

"We should all go back to riding horses," she said.

Gasoline prices stabilize

As refineries shut down for maintenance and made the switch to summer fuel blends, prices rose in the early spring. Gasoline costs have leveled off in recent days, as refineries have come back online and gasoline imports have increased

Market		Friday		Thursday		A month ago		A year ago		Record
Las Vegas		$3.17		$3.16		$2.97		$3.15		$3.18 (May 17, 2006)
Reno		$3.37		$3.37		$3.17		$3.26		$3.38 (Tuesday)
Nevada		$3.24		$3.23		$3.01		$3.18		$3.24 (Friday)

Source: AAA

BY STATE

State	Friday price
1. California	$3.48
2. Washington	$3.41
3. Oregon	$3.39
4. Hawaii	$3.31
5. Nevada	$3.24

Source: AAA