Pump Prices Drop Slightly in State, U.S.
California motorists are getting some relief from high gasoline prices -- but not much.
The average price at the pump in California for a gallon of self-serve regular fell 2.4 cents over the last week to $2.124 on Monday, according to the federal government’s weekly gas price survey.
The report marks the second consecutive week of falling retail gasoline prices in California, but it also marks the state’s 10th consecutive week of retail prices averaging more than $2 a gallon -- a new record, according to figures from the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy.
In 2003, the statewide average stayed above $2 for eight consecutive weeks in March and April, according to the EIA. This year, retail gasoline prices peaked at a record high average of $2.157 a gallon on April 12, and they have edged down a little more than 3 cents in the two weeks since then.
Such a puny reduction remains out of sync with wholesale gasoline prices in the state, which have see-sawed between 10 cents and 30 cents below the peak spot price hit in Los Angeles longer than two months ago. Based on those prices, the retail cost of self-serve regular in California should already have fallen to $2 a gallon or less, according to a formula used by analysts at the Oil Price Information Service, a company that tracks fuel markets.
On Friday, the Automobile Club of Southern California said retail pump prices should fall by 2 to 3 cents a gallon a week “for at least the next several weeks.”
California diesel prices, meanwhile, fell for the first time after hitting a record-high average of $2.26 a gallon on April 19. On Monday, the statewide average cost of diesel declined 1.3 cents to $2.247 a gallon, according to the EIA.
Officials have grown increasingly worried about the state’s high diesel prices -- now almost 65 cents above the levels of a year ago -- because they can affect the economy by driving up costs for freight carried by trucks and trains and for crops harvested by diesel tractors.
Nationwide, the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular fell one-tenth of a cent in the last week to $1.812, EIA said.
Despite the small dips in gasoline prices, some experts believe oil companies will face harsh criticism in the coming weeks as earnings reports show that they profited greatly from higher oil and gasoline prices.
