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Gas Prices Sink As Oil Prices Climb

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 3, 2007

• 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 prices continue to slip despite near record high oil prices.

A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is selling for an average of $2.86, 8 cents less then a week ago, 10 cents less than one month ago and 14 cents less than one year ago.

Mid-grade gasoline is selling for an average national price of $3.03 a gallon and premium sells for $3.14.

Gas prices peaked at $3.27 a gallon in late May, following futures higher on concerns refiners weren't making enough gas to meet demand. Those concerns have since been relieved by several weeks of growing refinery output and gasoline inventories. Gas futures have fallen steeply in recent weeks.

This year, oil prices have run up to new records even as the fundamental market forces supporting them have eroded. Declines in crude oil inventories as refineries increase output have been cited as a fundamental reason for the price increases.

The most expensive gallon of regular gasoline is once again is found on Beaver Island in Michigan for $3.91 and the cheapest gallon is on sale in Philadelphia for $2.39.

Here is a look at some gasoline prices form around the country in the ConsumerAffairs.com weekly Gas Price Round Up.

Texas: Retail gasoline prices fell across the state for the second week in a row. The average price of regular grade gasoline in 11 Texas cities fell about 6 or 7 cents to $2.79, according to the weekly AAA Texas gasoline price survey.

The survey showed the most expensive gasoline was in Amarillo, despite seeing the biggest price dip. Regular grade pries averaged $2.92 per gallon in the Panhandle city, despite a 14-cent drop.

The cheapest gas remained in Corpus Christi, where the average price of regular grade fell 9 cents to $2.63 per gallon

Michigan: Gasoline costs increased a penny in the state to an average of $2.91 a gallon, following three weeks of steadily declining prices.

A month ago, Michigan motorists were paying an average of $3.06 a gallon for gas. A year ago, it was $3.02 a gallon.

Prices around metropolitan Detroit are ranging from a low of $2.73 a gallon to $3.09.

Ohio: AAA reports the statewide average for regular is now $2.68 per gallon, slightly above the roughly $2.66 that they're paying in South Carolina, the state with the lowest prices in the country.

The auto club says the national average has dropped to below $2.86 cents a gallon and that is down 9 cents from a month ago, and 14 cents below where gas stood last year at this time.

Illinois: The current average retail price for regular gasoline in St. Louis is $2.62, down from $2.76 last month, and down from $2.97 in August 2006. A high of $3.14 was set in May, according to AAA's Fuel Price Finder. East St. Louis' current average retail price for regular gasoline of $2.75 is down from last month's average of $2.93.

Missouri's average price for regular fuel is $2.72, down from $2.90 in August 2006.

California: Gasoline prices in the state have declined at a rate of nearly a penny a day over the last week.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.02, which is 5.6 cents cheaper than last week.

In San Diego, the price is $3.04, which is 4.9 cents below last week's price.

Again this week, the highest market average in the state was in San Francisco at $3.27, down 7.3 cents in a week’s time.

The lowest average prices in California are in Sacramento at $2.93, a drop of 5.2 cents in a week’s time.

"Many Southern California regions have gas price averages under $3 and the statewide average is now just a nickel above $3," said Auto Club spokesperson Carol Thorp. "Crude oil prices are now at record highs, but actually throughout California and the rest of the country, pump prices are rapidly dropping for the moment."

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