Inflation and Commodity Indicators - this section includes commodity information and inflation trends.

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Specifications, Estimating, Office of Pre-Letting and Quality Assurance was previously known as SEOPL. While our make-up is the same, our name has changed to Office of Project Letting (OPL) to better describe our services. Please bear with us as our name changes through a wide-range of electronic and printed materials. It is our goal to make this conversion as seamless as possible.

The ODOT transition from a mainframe to client-server was completed with minimal problems. The Estimator program provides regions and consultants powerful and flexible software for developing project bid items and costs. The Next Generation Transport (NGT) system under development by AASHTO will include Estimator and add even more powerful system capabilities.

KDOT will Beta Test the future version of software systems designs later this spring. The prototype Web Based Database system is one of a new class of software that eliminates the need for programs and datasets to reside on -C- drives or servers. Web based systems will streamline access to data and continuously upgrading operating systems at the same time. The AASHTOWARE development program is a $50 Million Dollar effort with component upgrades planned for the next 7 years. ODOT is monitoring the progress of the system development with an eye for eventual implementation into ODOT systems.

Summary: West Coast asphalt markets were steady or lower, depending upon the location. In the Pacific Northwest, coastal Oregon prices declined, putting them more in line with coastal Washington prices. In California, no price changes were reported this week, and the selling prices in the markets were assessed steady to modestly lower. In addition, there were more reports of lower prices on wholesale barrels from distant supply sources in the Rockies and elsewhere. Supply of polymer-modified asphalt was tighter than unmodified base grades.

In Oregon, Portland area selling prices headed significantly lower this week, due to
competitive pressures. There were several reports of prices as low as $650/ST for PG 64-22 this week. The selling range was assessed sharply lower, at between $650-700/ST for PG 64-22. Posted prices were recently reported at prices as high as $800/ST for PG 64-22 grade material, but sales were reported at much lower levels.

NYMEX crude oil prices gyrated wildly this week, especially for the expiring October contract. Commodities markets were being impacted by the serious problems being encountered in the financial markets. By week's end, WTI Crude Oil prices were at $106.89 per barrel for the November contract. That was several dollars higher than the previous week's close on the October contract. The discount for October-injection WCS crude oil was about $18.50-19.00 per barrel below NYMEX crude oil.

Many Gulf Coast refineries were shutdown or affected by Hurricane Ike on September 13. As of September 26, twelve Gulf Coast refineries were running at normal rates. Several refineries were restarting: BP's Texas City, Texas refinery began restarting on Tuesday, September 23; ExxonMobil's Baytown, Texas refinery also began restarting on Tuesday; and Valero's Port Arthur, Texas refinery began restarting late in the week. ExxonMobil's Beaumont, Texas refinery remains shutdown, due to extensive damage, but is reported to not have any severe damages. Marathon's Texas City, Texas refinery is undergoing repair to a cooling tower that was damaged due to Ike, and plans to restart the first week in
October. Total's Port Arthur, Texas refinery also remains shutdown.