The thin green line between $1.99 and $2 for a gallon of gasoline can be a lot more than just a penny, if only psychologically.

        But given the 6-cent average increase overnight from Monday to Tuesday in Greater Cincinnati for regular unleaded, local gasoline stations are creeping toward that watershed mark.

GAS PRICES

Roudup of Tristate gas prices

        Premium gas is already there. It rose overnight from an average $1.99 a gallon to $2.048, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. A month ago, premium was $1.80. A year ago Tuesday, it was $1.69.

        “Years ago, people thought going over a buck was a threshold,” Phil Verleger, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based energy economist and consultant, said Tuesday. “But they paid it. So we'll pay two bucks. Either that, or we'll buy more efficient cars.”

        “It's simple supply and demand,” he said.

        Mr. Verleger and other industry sources say one common consumer response is a switch from premium to lower-grade gas, to counteract soaring prices.

        That actually works in consumers' favor because the highest profit margin for station owners is in premium gas. So at some point, the law of diminishing returns becomes a factor. And higher-grade prices stabilize.        

Consumers resigned

        But there are always consumers like Jesse Harris of Covington. He buys gasoline by convenience of location, not price. And he's resigned to paying more.

        “I guess somebody's got to make money,” he said while filling up Tuesday at a Speedway in Covington. “I don't like it. I just stop and get gas when I need it. It takes more money out of your pockets, but what can you do about it?”

        Many stations don't post premium prices, instead listing on their signs only regular, mid-grade and diesel. The reason might be more about your head than your wallet.

        And it's not strictly a gasoline thing.

        “There is apparently some validity to it, or else we wouldn't see things, food, clothes, or fuel, with that type pricing,” said Steve Wilburn, executive director of the Kentucky Petroleum Council.

        Cars, for instance, are listed at $19,995 because sellers know $20,000 seems like a lot more. Stereos go for $199.99. Infomercials hawk merchandise for just three easy payments of $19.95, instead of calling it a hair under $60.

        In the Midwest, gasoline supplies are so tight that “if somebody sneezes, it causes a spike in cost,” Mr. Wilburn said. “... This is the time of year we have the increase in demand. And right now, demand is outpacing the ability to make it.”

        Demand also is keeping some local motorists from doing anything about it. If the only alternative is to shop around for the better inflated price, many customers just hold their nose and pump.

        “No one is going to get together to say, "Look, across the board, we aren't going to buy gas, we aren't going to buy cars,'” said Richard Baker, a former Cincinnatian visiting Tuesday from his home in Las Vegas. “Cars run the United States of America. There's nothing else in this country that makes this country roll like automobiles.”

        And of course, prices are relative to what you're used to.

        “Gas prices are almost $3 where I am,” Mr. Baker said. “So this is a break for me here in Cincinnati.”

       Enquirer reporter Julie Nelson contributed to this report.

Execution delayed; prison officials stunned
Death-penalty opponents gather
Planned executions spur prayer vigil
Diarro's death stuns school
Gas prices creep near $2 a gallon
Police search for suspect in shootings of four men
Boone County's budget up by 109%
Catch of the day: a friend
County braces for cuts
Fire ravages UK building
Fort Thomas cracks down on animal nuisances
20 graduate from Citizen Police Academy in Fairfield
Group promotes 'smart growth'
Kids give statue life
Mason OKs fire chief deal
Officials: Mental health reports falsified
Ohio court weighs jurisdiction in '63 beating death of teen girl
Openings contrast at porn trial
Paul Harvey in town
Property's value up to jurors
Residents take on Cinergy
School superintendent resigns
Trust led to two deaths, prosecutors say
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report