Average Gas Price Up 4c, Gallon Tops $2 in Calif.

February 23, 2004

WASHINGTON — The price U.S. consumers pay for gasoline shot up 4 cents over the last week to an average $1.688 a gallon, with the pumps in California's biggest cities topping $2 for the first time since last September, the government said on Monday.

The national average cost for regular unleaded gasoline is up 3 cents from a year ago and at the highest level in five months, according to a weekly survey of gasoline stations by the Energy Information Administration.

The Energy Department's analytical unit has warned that with oil inventories below average and crude costs up, U.S. consumers face tight gasoline supplies and high prices through the busy summer driving season.

The price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, sold in polluted metropolitan areas, jumped 7.2 cents in the latest week to $1.786 a gallon, according to the EIA survey.

The West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline, with the average price at $1.947 a gallon, up 13.4 cents in the latest week.

The Federal Trade Commission was asked last week to investigate whether Royal Dutch/Shell Group's decision to close a California refinery will push up West Coast gasoline costs. The refinery, located in Bakersfield, Calif., processes about 70,000 barrels of oil a day.

Los Angeles topped the EIA's city survey of gasoline costs, with the pump price up almost 18 cents a gallon $2.094. San Francisco was not far behind at $2.064, up 19 cents a gallon. It was the first time average motor fuel costs in both cities topped $2 a gallon since last Sept. 22.

The Gulf Coast is the region with the cheapest fuel, but the price was up 1.7 cents to $1.57 per gallon. Houston's gasoline was the least expensive among cities at $1.541 a gallon, up 2 cents.

The weekly report also showed gasoline prices were up 5.5 cents at $1.737 in Seattle, up 1.5 cents at $1.737 in Chicago, up 2.3 cents at $1.717 in Miami, up 7.6 cents at $1.708 in Cleveland and up 2 cents at $1.697 in New York City.

Separately, the average pump price for diesel fuel increased 1.1 cents to $1.595 a gallon, down 11 cents from a year earlier but still the highest level since last March.

Truckers on the West Coast paid the most for diesel fuel at $1.788 a gallon, down 0.1 cent from the prior week. The Gulf Coast region had the cheapest diesel at $1.536, up 1.2 cents.

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