State’s Average Gas Price Is Back Above $2 a Gallon
California’s average gasoline price took its biggest weekly jump in more than three months in the week that ended Monday, lifting it back above $2 a gallon, a U.S. government survey showed.
Spurred by higher crude oil prices, the statewide average for self-serve regular climbed 7.5 cents to $2.034 a gallon from $1.959 the prior week, the Energy Department said.
It was the largest weekly advance since the average price rose 7.5 cents a gallon in the week that ended Oct. 18. That same week, the price hit a record high $2.402 a gallon, according to the department’s Energy Information Administration.
Prices in the latest week were still 15% below that record, but they were 28.1 cents higher than a year ago, the EIA said.
Nationwide, the average price for regular gasoline rose 5.8 cents to $1.911 a gallon in the latest week, or nearly 30 cents higher than a year earlier.
After moving mostly lower in late 2004, oil prices rose in January, providing support for higher gas prices. Pump prices also typically climb early in the year as refiners perform maintenance and begin the annual change to summer-grade fuel, which is more difficult to produce.
Crude oil for March delivery gained $1.02 to $48.20 a barrel Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil prices were lower most of the session in response to the relatively calm Iraq elections Sunday and a decision by ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to maintain current production levels. But a late rally erased those losses.
