Gasoline Prices Slip for 4th Week

Retail gasoline prices fell for the fourth straight week nationwide, with the average for self-serve regular falling 3.5 cents to $1.595 a gallon -- the largest weekly decline since prices hit record highs in mid-March.

Some cities saw decreases of more than 5 cents for the period ended Monday, according to the Energy Department’s weekly survey.

In California, the average price fell 3.8 cents to $2.077 a gallon. Los Angeles prices fell 2.7 cents on average to $2.085 a gallon, and the average in San Francisco fell to $2.104, down 4.2 cents, the survey found.

Still, pump prices have yet to fully reflect the sharply lower price of crude oil, which traded just short of $40 a barrel in mid-March but has been less than $30 since concerns have abated about the Iraq war’s potential to disrupt oil exports.

On Monday, near-month oil futures rose 49 cents to $28.63 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Monday’s closing price for crude oil represents an 18% drop since March 17, when gasoline prices peaked at a record $1.728 a gallon. Average nationwide gasoline prices have fallen 7.7% during that period; in California, average retail prices have fallen 3% from the March 17 peak of $2.145.

Last week, government analysts predicted that the nationwide average price for regular gasoline this summer would be $1.56 a gallon, 12% higher than the average of $1.39 last summer.

Analysts said tight gasoline supplies and continuing uncertainties in some oil-producing countries could trigger a resumption of price hikes this summer.