California Gas Prices Spurt Higher

The recent increase in crude oil prices has reached the pump in California, where the average price of regular self-serve unleaded gasoline jumped to $1.382 per gallon, according to the weekly survey of gasoline prices around the nation by the Energy Information Administration. A week ago, the average in California was $1.347 per gallon. The latest national average price, based on a survey of 800 gasoline stations, was $1.316 per gallon, virtually unchanged from a week ago. Higher crude oil prices had pushed the national average up the previous week from $1.277 per gallon. Oil prices have been rising on concern that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will continue production restraints past their March expiration. Cold weather in the East, which increases demand for heating oil, also has contributed to the price rally. The March contract for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark oil price, rose 42 cents Monday to $27.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.