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Gas Jitters Hit California

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 8, 2007

• Why Are Oil Prices Falling? • Labor Day Gas Prices Up a Penny • Gas Prices Fall for 37 Days • Gas Prices Slide 8 Percent from Record • Gas Prices Creep Down • Oil Price Trend May Be Good News For Consumers • Gasoline Drops Below $3.90 a Gallon • Gas Prices Pull Back Slowly • Oil Prices Fall As Storm Misses Rigs • Latest Gas Price Round-Up • 'Run Your Car On Water' Scheme Could Leave Consumers All Wet • Unregulated Energy Trading Blamed for Much of Gas Price Gusher • Airlines Join Effort To Limit Oil Speculators • Questions Raised about MyGallons.com • 'Hypermiling' Is Dangerous, Says AAA • Struggling Drivers Blame Washington for High Gas Prices • What’s Really Fueling Those Sky-High Oil Prices • Credit Card Fees at the Pump are a 'Hidden Tax' on Consumers • Survey: 3 Out of 4 Angry About High Gas Prices • $2 A Gallon Gas Possible, Analysts Tell Congress • Speculators Buy More Oil Contracts Than Oil Companies • Saudis to Pump More Oil • Limiting Oil Speculators Gains Ground • Congress To Probe Oil Price Spike • Oil Market 'Saturated,' Iran Claims • Feds See No Relief from High Gas Prices • High Gas Prices Could Mean Lower Insurance Rates • High Gas Prices Good For Kia, Honda • Gas Prices Rip Past $4 and Keep Climbing • Administration, OPEC See Different Causes Of Oil Surge • Feds Probing Possible Oil Market Manipulation • Beware of Fuel Sippers Sipping High-Test • Retailers Respond to High Gas Prices with Discounts, Promotions • Rushing Into a Smaller Car Too Soon May Not Save Money • Hybrid Sales and Prices Climb in Lockstep with Gas Prices • Truckers Bemoan Burden of High Diesel Costs • Gas Prices Biting into Worker Productivity • Consumers Warned About Gas-Saving Schemes • Is Tony Soprano Controlling Gas Prices? • Oil & Gas: The New Bubble • Critics: New Federal Gas Mileage Standard Falls Short • Consumers Feeling Pain of Skyrocketing Gas Prices • New Gas Price Record Forecasts Expensive Summer Driving Season --- • More ...

Gasoline price jitters have hit California, with the cost of a gallon of regular self serve jumping above $3 a gallon in some parts of the state. The average price of a gallon of regular self serve is now $2.50 in the rest of the country.

Crude oil, which makes up about half the price of gasoline, is once again trading above $60 a barrel. Higher demand, refinery maintenance and fears about springtime shortages may also be driving up prices.

Average gasoline prices are above $2 in all 50 states but are highest in California where the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline now sits at $2.96 across the state. Extensive maintenance work at West Coast refineries is having a particularly severe impact in California curtailing supplies and exacerbating jitters about tight supplies.

Oil industry analysts suggest the possibility that other parts of the country will see $3 gasoline before summer without a major disruption in supply is fairly small.

Average fuel prices are still below their historic high but are inching higher earlier this year than in 2006 when prices set new records.

One month ago the average price stood at $2.18 in the U.S. and one year ago regular self serve average $2.34 throughout the country.

The most expensive gallon of regular gasoline is now found in San Francisco for $3.35. The least expensive gallon of regular self serve is found in Quitman, Georgia for $1.93.

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