John S. Herold Inc., the Stamford, Connecticut-based petroleum research company, says that, adjusted for inflation, oil today is the same price as in the early 1970s. Herold first proclaimed that oil is cheap more than a decade ago and its most recent annual report on how the price compares with that of other products says that nothing has changed. Despite that oil was fetching $30 per barrel on the Nymex, the popular byproduct, gasoline, remains the cheapest item in a typical consumer's shopping basket. At the pump, a barrel of gasoline (42 gallons) cost about $54.14 in January. John S. Herold Shopping Basket Product Price/Barrel WTI Spot $28.03 Gasoline $54.14 Coca-Cola $78.73 Milk $150.36 Evian $189.80 Orange juice $225.96 Snapple $252.00 Budweiser $357.65 Scope mouthwash $826.56 Ben & Jerry's "Chunky Monkey" $1,105.44 Olive oil $1,165.33 Head & Shoulders shampoo $1,623.41 Tabasco $2,661.12 Jack Daniels $4,141.43 Tanning oil $5,365.25 Remy Martin $7,860.01 Visine $32,202.24 Flonase $615,240.95 Source: John S. Herold Inc. That's cheaper than Evian water ($189.80/barrel), Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream ($1,105.44), and milk ($150.36). Head & Shoulders shampoo was more than $1,600 per barrel; Budweiser, $357.65; and Tabasco, $2,661.12. Coca-Cola? $78.73 Consumers also get more mileage from gasoline than from Coca-Cola, the Herold report says. One gallon of gasoline ($1.289) would get an average driver about 20 miles. In contrast, one gallon of Coca-Cola ($1.875) provides enough energy, or calories, to walk at a comfortable pace for 14.1 miles. This means that gasoline gets one 42% farther, 31% cheaper, the Herold report says. A barrel of tanning oil cost more than a 100 shares of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., at press time. A barrel of Flonase, the prescription nasal spray? More than 7,500 shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. Although prices are strong, current oil prices are not expensive in historical terms-and it wouldn't be unreasonable for prices to trend higher this year, the Herold report adds. It also questions whether it's fair for the public to expect perennially low prices during the oil industry's profitable times-and remain silent during the hard times. -Heather H. Read
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