Gas Prices Rise in Latest Week

U.S. retail gasoline rose for the first time in 14 weeks, rebounding from a 21/2-year low along with prices for crude oil, its raw material, a government survey showed.

The price of regular self-serve gasoline rose 1.3 cents to $1.072 a gallon in the week ended Monday, according to the Energy Department’s survey of about 900 filling stations. Prices are still 34 cents lower than a year ago and down from a record $1.713 reached in May.

Over the last two weeks, gasoline prices fell an average of 3 cents a gallon nationwide to their lowest level in nearly three years, according to the national Lundberg survey issued Sunday.

Pump prices could bottom out as early as January, as retailers try to halt sliding profits, oil prices continue to rise and the major oil-producing nations implement an expected production cut, industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said.

Prices have fallen 44.61 cents a gallon since Sept. 7, when the national average weighted price for all three grades was $1.56 a gallon. Friday, the weighted average was $1.12, according to the Lundberg survey.