By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com
October 17, 2005
Gas prices continue to decline with the average nationwide price for a gallon of regular unleaded dipping to $2.752, down two cents from Sunday. The average nationwide price for diesel is up by less than a penny, climbing to $3.198 a gallon from $3.189 Sunday, according to AAA.
Meanwhile, a new tropical storm is forming in the Caribbean, equaling the record for the most storms in one season. Wilma is expected to become a hurricane before heading towards the U.S. Gulf coast around the weekend.
Roughly 65 percent of U.S. oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains closed as is about 10 percent of U.S. refining capacity. Tropical Storm Wilma is sending shudders through the oil markets, sending futures up almost a dollar.
Demand for gasoline continues to be less than last year, down 2.4 percent, according to a government report released late last week.
AAA reports Hawaii still has the most expensive gas in the country, with the average cost of regular unleaded at $3.524. Oklahoma enjoys the cheapest gasoline, with regular unleaded selling for $2.377.
Here is a look at some gasoline prices around the U.S.
Rhode Island: This is the seventh consecutive week AAA reports prices have gone down. Gasoline now averages 52 cents less than in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Self serve unleaded regular is averaging $2.719 per gallon, down ten cents from last week.
The range in prices in AAAs survey for regular unleaded is 32 cents, from a low of $2.57 9 to a high of $2.899.
California: Gasoline prices in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California declined this week, after rising the prior week in response to thin national supplies, due to a drop in demand caused by high pump prices since the hurricanes, said the Automobile Club of Southern California.
The average price for regular self-serve unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area fell 2 cents to $2.957 on Friday from $2.977 one week ago. The price was $2.978 per gallon one month ago and $2.357 one year prior. Prices have not reached a new record high since Sept. 6.
The Orange County area had the lowest average price in Southern California, losing 3.7 cents to $2.898. The Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc area had the highest gas price, slipping 1.7 cents to $3.025. Of the areas surveyed, only the Bakersfield and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc areas had average prices above the $3-a-gallon mark on Friday.
Texas: Gasoline prices are falling across the state. The average price of self-serve regular gas at the pump fell by more than eight cents a gallon to $2.82 a gallon. That's still 95 cents higher than last year's average of $1.87.
Dallas has the state's costliest gasoline with an average of $2.89, down eight cents from last week.
San Antonio has the cheapest gas at almost $2.76, down four cents from last week. But Corpus Christi saw the biggest
North Carolina: Charlotte drivers last week paid the country's highest gasoline prices outside Hawaii. The metro area's gas usually is among the nation's cheapest -- but not since Hurricane Rita. Charlotte's average for regular gas since Rita remained above $3 a gallon for two weeks.
Georgia: The pain at the pump subsided slightly with three gas stations reporting a statewide low price of $2.49 per gallon of regular unleaded in Adel. All across Metro Atlanta, gas prices are dropping, while demand is also going down.
