California Gasoline Prices Fall Further

California gasoline prices continued their modest decline, the U.S. Energy Department said, as the average price of self-serve regular unleaded dropped 2.5 cents to $1.543 a gallon for the week ended Monday. Regular self-serve unleaded, which hit a peak three weeks ago at an average $1.624 a gallon, remains nearly 37% above its Jan. 4 average of $1.129. For the nation as a whole, the average price for self-serve unleaded rose half a penny last week to $1.136 a gallon, ending two weeks of price declines, the government said. For the West Coast, the average dropped 2.1 cents in the last week to $1.467 a gallon but remains the highest in the nation. Fuel costs should continue to rise nationwide this month, the department said, forecasting that summer prices will peak in May at $1.18 a gallon for self-serve unleaded and will average $1.13 for the season.