While Gas Prices Drop, So Do Oil Prices

Catch-22 for Alaskans

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By Heather Hintze
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ANCHORAGE - Around Anchorage the price at the pump is dropping and drivers are pumped up about the lower costs.

“It's awesome, yeah. I wish they'd go down more,” said Katherine Helm.

While filling your tank now might mean more money in your wallet, that’s not the case for the state.

“It's a double edged sword when oil prices rise it helps the state budget. When it goes down it helps the price at the pump,” said Bruce Tangeman, the Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Revenue.

About 90% of the state’s budget comes from oil. The 2013 spending plan is built around the spring-estimated prices of $110 per barrel. On Friday crude was about $93 a barrel.

“Sunday is the first day of the fiscal year so it's not time to jump off a bridge yet. But we understand and we've been through this before where prices go up and down quite a bit. We've seen significant changes from month to month in the past,” said Tangeman.

The low prices at the pump won’t last long. By the end of Friday, crude prices spiked 9%.

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Anonymous said on Sunday, Jul 1 at 3:42 AM

low prices are you people nuts? as far as bruce tangman goes your on the government tit using a state credit card while we are having to give up thousands of hard earned dollars to suport you greedy a-holes if all of you so called public servants didnt have your fancy perks ,paid health care and $100,000 or so salerys free plane rides free hotels and pentions that are more in a year than most of us make in a lifetime maby the state wouldent need so much money

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cooljulie said on Friday, Jun 29 at 11:32 PM

Of course oil prices are down- it's an election year. As predictable as the tides.

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