California Gas Prices Fall for a 2nd Week

California’s average pump price fell 2.5 cents a gallon in the last week and the U.S. average edged slightly higher, the Energy Department reported Monday.

The state’s retail average for self-serve regular gasoline fell for a second straight week, to $2.369 a gallon, according to a weekly survey of gasoline stations conducted by the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration.

The agency reported that the U.S. average for the same grade was $2.034 a gallon, up 0.2 cent.

The California average was 65.8 cents higher than a year ago; the U.S. average was 49.9 cents higher.

One of the key factors behind the high price of gasoline is the soaring cost of crude oil -- the result of strong demand, limited supplies and, most recently, output disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ivan.

The recent surge in pump prices has slowed as increasing oil inventories have brought crude prices down from records reached in late October. In addition, California refiners are emerging from maintenance shutdowns and making their annual switch to the winter formula for the state’s cleaner-burning gasoline, which is easier to produce than the summer formula.

The price of light crude for December delivery fell $1.66 to settle at $50.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In other Nymex trading, November gasoline fell 3.77 cents to $1.2908 a gallon.

The cost of oil makes up about half the retail price of gasoline and diesel. Oil is 71% more expensive than a year ago.