Prices at pump rise in state, fall in U.S.
California’s average pump price rose more than 2 cents a gallon over the last week while the U.S. average fell nearly 2 cents, the government reported Tuesday, but both are still much more expensive than a year earlier because of tight supply and high crude oil costs.
The California average cost for self-serve regular gasoline increased 2.3 cents to $2.996 a gallon and the national average slipped 1.8 cents to $2.77 a gallon, according to a weekly survey of service stations by the Energy Information Administration.
The U.S. average was the lowest in six months but was 51 cents higher than the same time last year. California’s average was 40 cents higher than the year-earlier price.
Energy Information Administration chief Guy Caruso said Tuesday that gasoline prices weren’t likely to fall as much this winter as they did last year because motor fuel inventories were below normal and crude oil prices would stay high. The price of oil accounts for about half the cost of making gasoline.
In the agency’s latest weekly price survey, gasoline was the most expensive on the West Coast, up 1.2 cents to $2.934 a gallon from a week earlier. Among major cities, San Francisco had the highest gasoline costs at $3.041, up 2.3 cents.
The Gulf Coast states had the lowest price by region at $2.667 a gallon, down 3.3 cents. Houston had the cheapest pump price at $2.563 a gallon, down 4.1 cents.
In New York futures trading, oil rose $1.24 to $80.26 a barrel after the federal agency’s report raised concerns that a cold winter would help lift worldwide demand for crude during the fourth quarter. Prices are 34% higher than a year earlier. Futures prices touched $83.90 a barrel Sept. 20, the highest since the contract was introduced in 1983.
Gasoline for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 2 cents, or 1%, to $2.02 a gallon.
Gasoline in California markets rose to a three-month high as refinery repairs and maintenance projects cut fuel production.
“There are numerous refinery problems out here, the list is long, and that’s why the market is going up,” said Larry Roberts, a supply manager at Tower Energy Group, an independent gasoline wholesaler based in Torrance. “There are no cargoes coming in. We still have the same demand, that’s not changed. We just don’t have the production.”
The energy administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, also said it would be a much more expensive winter for households that depend on heating oil, while those that use natural gas should experience only moderate price increases.
Heating oil customers will pay an average of $319, or 22% more this winter than during last year in large part because of soaring crude oil prices, the administration estimated. Natural gas customers are forecast to pay $78, or 10%, more for heat from October to March.
Southern California Gas Co. has said that its customers can expect to pay about the same as they did last year for the five-month period beginning in November.
