Pump Prices Taking Bigger Toll

Southern California’s gasoline prices leaped in the last week, pushing closer to the dreaded $3 mark, an AAA survey showed Friday.

The average price for self-serve regular gasoline hit a record $2.575 a gallon, up 12.1 cents from a week earlier in Los Angeles County, and a record $2.561 a gallon, up 11.9 cents, in Orange County, AAA said.

At some stations, prices already have exceeded $3, at least for higher-octane blends.

“I just can’t believe it’s $3 a gallon,” said Gary Dordick, an attorney, as he filled his Cadillac Escalade with $3.01-a-gallon mid-grade gasoline Friday at a Chevron station in downtown Los Angeles. The service station was selling regular gas for $2.91 a gallon, while premium was priced at $3.11.

Dordick’s final tab: $60. “This is too much,” he complained.

Average regular gasoline prices are even higher in Northern California and parts of the Central Valley. Bakersfield reached a record $2.637 a gallon, while San Francisco rose to a record $2.667, according to the AAA survey, which is based on credit card data.

Arco stations, which don’t accept credit cards, aren’t included in the survey.

Truck drivers also were feeling the pain, as diesel prices in Los Angeles jumped by nearly a dime to $2.724 a gallon.

“We’ve never seen this kind of price hike ... across the board for every single brand” of gasoline, said Charles Langley, a project manager at the Utility Consumers’ Action Network, which conducts a separate survey of gas prices twice a week in San Diego, where the consumer advocacy group is based.

The overall state average rose 13.8 cents in the last week to $2.591 a gallon, and the U.S. average increased 10.1 cents to $2.265, AAA said. Both averages represented fresh highs for self-serve regular.

Analysts blame rising gas prices on the recent run-up in the price of crude oil, which closed at a historic high of $57.27 a barrel April 1. Crude accounts for about half of gasoline’s retail cost.

“We’re just catching up with the surge in oil prices,” said Jeff Spring, a spokesman for the Automobile Club of Southern California, AAA’s local affiliate.

But gasoline’s rocketing price ride may slow, reflecting the slide in crude oil prices this week, analysts said. The price of light sweet crude for May delivery fell for the fifth consecutive day, closing down 79 cents Friday to $53.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Analysts have attributed the recent run-up in oil futures to fears that the oil supply may not be able to meet rising demand for fuel in the United States and worldwide. Recent reports by Goldman Sachs and the International Monetary Fund said heavy demand around the world could push oil prices above $100 a barrel in the next few years.

But oil futures have dropped 7% this week amid reports that pointed to increased refinery activity and rising oil supply.

“We’ve had a big, big correction,” said Tom Kloza, chief analyst for Oil Price Information Service.

Pump prices are still likely to increase next week but then should flatten and remain stable through midsummer, Kloza said, barring any major refinery problems or unexpected geopolitical events.

But it’s unlikely that gas prices will drop anytime soon, Kloza said. An Energy Department report Thursday predicted that fuel prices would peak in May and would remain high through 2006.

“That’s ridiculous,” said John Rodriguez, a sheriff’s deputy, who was filling up his Porsche Boxster with premium gasoline at $3.11 a gallon at the downtown Chevron station. “Forty-two dollars for a tank of gas? But what can you do?”