Gasoline prices in California drop again as U.S. average rises

California gasoline prices have fallen for eight straight weeks. The pace of the decline has slowed, but it will probably continue in the wake of a plunge in U.S. oil prices in recent weeks. Above, motorists pump gas in Los Angeles last week. (Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images / July 2, 2012)

By Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times

July 10, 2012

Gasoline prices continued to fall in California, but the national average for a gallon of regular fuel rose for the first time in several weeks, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey.

The average price of a gallon of regular gas in California was $3.733, the Energy Department said Monday, down 4 cents since July 2.

The price has dropped 63.4 cents a gallon since May 14, but it might not feel like much relief: The new average for the state is just 4.5 cents a gallon lower than it was at this point last year.

California gasoline prices have fallen for eight straight weeks. The pace of the decline has slowed, but it will probably continue in the wake of a plunge in U.S. oil prices in recent weeks.

The price of oil, as high as $109 a barrel this year, had dipped below $80 before slowly going back up. On Monday, it climbed $1.54 to close at $85.99 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

That wasn't enough to stop the decline in pump prices in the state, said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service. "California still has some catching up to do in fuel price declines," Kloza said. He added that the California average could fall as low as $3.50 a gallon.

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.411, up 5.5 cents since last week, the Energy Department said. The increase broke a string of 13 straight weeks of declines across much of the nation. Analysts said the prices outside the West Coast may have already bottomed out for a while.

Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for the price-watch websites run by GasBuddy.com, said, "While I don't necessarily believe that the recent uptick in crude prices will stick, I also don't see prices falling considerably lower until after the conclusion of the summer driving season."

ron.white@latimes.com

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/latimes/business/~3/lhGr7jk2Ro8/la-fi-gas-prices-20120710,0,3244460.story

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