Rose Rougeau Last Quotations

Higher gas prices will not deter Texans from traveling this holiday. Nearly 5.1 million Texans are expected to travel for the Christmas - New Year's holiday, up 1.4 percent from last year. When you factor in hotel and rental car rates, gasoline remains a relatively small part of most family travel budgets.

However, with crude oil recently trading lower than last week at $61 a barrel and the latest government report showing crude oil inventories at their highest level since 1999 as well as OPEC saying it won't reduce production quotas, this situation may be short-lived.

The price of gasoline at the wholesale level declined sharply last week and there continues to be downward pressure on gas in Texas. Motorists may be in for a few weeks of slightly lower prices. But toward the end of the month, it's likely that pump prices will resume an upward arc.

For the past month, gasoline prices have fallen as inventories of gas and crude oil continued to show a healthy surplus compared to last year. Motorists can expect to see relative price stability for the next couple of weeks.