Alabama: Gas Prices Fall Nearly 4 Cents Per Gallon

<a href=www.timesdaily.com>More.. By BRAD FOSS AP Business Writer March 24. 2003 6:31PM The average nationwide price of gasoline fell nearly 4 cents per gallon at the pump last week, the Energy Information Administration said Monday. The Energy Department's statistical arm reported that regular unleaded gasoline declined 3.8 cents, on average, to $1.69 per gallon. It was the first decline in three weeks as cheaper fuel at the wholesale level appeared to make its way to the retail level, analysts said. The wholesale price of gasoline has declined more than 23 cents a gallon in the past two weeks. On Monday, unleaded gasoline for May delivery finished the day at 89.79 cents a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rising 4.5 cents. Retail prices dropped sharpest in the Midwest, falling 8.5 cents per gallon on average. On the East Coast, the decline was 2.1 cents and on the West Coast, where prices are highest, the decline was a mere 0.4 cent per gallon. Last week, the average pump price for regular unleaded gasoline reached $1.728, surpassing the record high set in May 2001. Even with the latest decline, retail gasoline still costs 35 cents per gallon more than it did a year ago. Today's high price of gasoline reflects the tight inventories and high price of crude oil, caused by falling imports from Venezuela and fears that a war in Iraq could disrupt supplies from the Middle East. Gasoline prices tend to rise in spring anyway as refiners shut down equipment, scrub it clean and switch from winter- to summer-grade fuel ahead of the peak driving season. That process, known in the industry as "turnaround," causes supplies to temporarily shrink and prices to rise. Because of this seasonal trend, motorists should not anticipate too much relief at the pump in the coming weeks, said Tom Kloza, director of Oil Price Information Service, a Lakewood, N.J., provider of industry data.