Gas Prices Fall in State, Rise Again Nationwide
California consumers experienced a small reprieve in gas prices, with the average cost of a gallon of regular-grade self-serve gasoline dropping 0.9 cent in the last week to $2.148, according to data released Monday by the federal Energy Information Administration.
The Energy Department’s weekly survey of gasoline prices also showed that the average price of gas nationwide hit a record $1.813 per gallon, breaking the previous mark of $1.786, set last week.
The increase represents five consecutive weeks of higher prices, and the current price is 23.9 cents higher than at the same time last year.
Gas prices were propelled by an average increase of 5.4 cents, to $1.858, in the Rocky Mountain region and an average gain of 4.1 cents in the Midwest, bringing the cost there to $1.778 per gallon. Denver’s retail gas prices took the biggest jump among the 10 cities surveyed, climbing 9 cents to $1.854.
Los Angeles and San Francisco clung to their respective No. 1 and No. 2 rankings as the cities with the nation’s highest gasoline prices.
Still, both locations experienced a drop in the average price per gallon from a week earlier. The average price in Los Angeles fell 1.5 cents, to $2.195 per gallon, and San Francisco’s average price fell 2.9 cents, to $2.147 per gallon.
California’s retail prices may continue to fall through the spring, prompted by a drop in the wholesale price of gasoline. Yet prices will probably rise again by summer as vacationers hit the road and demand picks up. Tom Kloza, chief analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, said he expected to see “flat to lower prices” in California, with prices possibly falling by 10 cents to 15 cents per gallon by Memorial Day weekend.
Nationwide, Kloza said, prices will trend upward and, echoing EIA estimates, peak around $1.83.
Crude oil for May delivery fell 32 cents Monday to settle at $37.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The EIA’s gas price data are based on surveys of 900 gas stations in 50 states.
