Gasoline prices go up
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) - Gas prices rose nearly one and a half cents per gallon over the past two weeks, an industry analyst said Sunday.
The average weighted price for gas nationwide, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.52 per gallon Friday, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 sta-tions nationwide. Gas cost just over $1.50 a gallon on Jan. 3, the date of the last Lundberg Survey.
Contributing to the price rise was the continuing oil production strike in Venezuela, a fear of war against Iraq, the intense cold weather on America's East Coast, which is prompting some refiners to produce more heating oil, and the addi-tion of a costlier gasoline additive in California, Trilby Lundberg said.
California is phasing out the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, an addi-tive that is blamed for pollut-ing drinking water after it leaked from storage tanks. Some refineries are beginning to replace it with ethanol, a corn-based fuel additive that is more expensive but better for the environment. , Lundberg said.
That has increased prices in California, which in turn pushed up the nationwide price average, Lundberg said.
Federal law requires gasoline to contain a 2 percent oxygen additive - such as MTBE or ethanol - to cut down on air pollution. The national weighted average price of gasoline, including taxes, at self-serve pumps Friday was about $1.49 per gallon for regular, $1.58 for mid-grade and $1.67 for premium.