Gasoline Prices in State Lowest in 3 Months

California pump prices fell to their lowest levels in more than three months Monday, reflecting easing demand for gasoline and a recent slide in oil prices.

The statewide average cost of self-serve regular gasoline dropped 7.7 cents over the last week to $2.582 a gallon Monday, according to a survey by the federal Energy Information Administration, an arm of the Energy Department.

“It’s the slackening demand.... It’s a weaker market right now,” said Paul Boland, an oil analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. With the focus shifting to wintertime supplies of heating oil, he added, “We probably won’t see unleaded gas come back really until February.”

Retail gasoline prices in the state have declined for six straight weeks, with Monday’s average 47 cents below the high of $3.056 in early September after Hurricane Katrina disrupted production in the Gulf Coast region, the Energy Information Administration said. California’s current average price, however, is up 27 cents from a year ago.

The retail cost of diesel, which has soared well above gasoline this year, fell 8 cents in the last seven days to a California average of $2.717 a gallon Monday, the survey showed.

Nationwide, the average cost of gasoline fell 8 cents to $2.296 a gallon; the average for diesel fell 9.6 cents to $2.602 a gallon.

Crude oil, which accounts for about half of gasoline’s price, has been easing in New York futures trading since the commodity briefly surpassed the $70 mark during trading at the end of August. On Monday, oil for December delivery ticked up 16 cents to $57.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline for December delivery closed at $1.496 a gallon, up 1.1 cent.