Gasoline futures advance; retail prices still dropping

Gasoline rose from a three-week low as European stocks gained on speculation governments will stem the region’s debt crisis.

Futures advanced 1% as the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.6% in New York. Euro-area finance ministers are scheduled to hold a conference call today to discuss adding 200 billion euros ($261 billion US) in additional funding through the International Monetary Fund to ease the region’s debt crisis.

“We’ve had some surprising strength in Europe today,” said Peter Beutel, president of trading advisory company Cameron Hanover in New Canaan, Connecticut. “We’re starting to see some light buying.”

Gasoline for January delivery rose 2.59 cents to $2.5129 a gallon as of 9:52 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 2.4% this year, after gaining as much as 41% through April.

January-delivery heating oil gained 2.09 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $2.8214 a gallon. Prices are up 11% this year.

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline fell 0.7 cent to $3.221 a gallon today, according to AAA data. It’s the lowest level since Feb. 22. Prices are 8.1 percent higher than a year earlier. In California, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.543, down from $3.591 a week ago. That was California’s lowest average for regular gasoline since Feb. 18th.