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U.S. gasoline pump prices fall from record high
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Americans driving home from their last vacation weekend of the summer found a little relief at the pump as U.S. retail gasoline prices backed away slightly from their record high, the government said Tuesday. The national price for regular unleaded gasoline averaged $1.746 a gallon, down 0.1 cent over the last week, but still 35 cents higher from a year ago, based on a weekly survey of service stations by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration. The pump price hit a new record high heading into the busy Labor Day weekend after jumping 12 cents to surpass the old record of $1.728 a gallon set March 17, just before the start of the U.S.-led attack on Iraq. High crude oil costs, tighter fuel supplies and strong demand are to blame for high gasoline prices. But crude oil prices fell almost 7 percent Tuesday in New York trading and those savings should eventually be passed on to consumers at the pump. The EIA had said it expected gasoline prices to begin declining in September as gasoline demand fell off at the end of the summer driving season. Nonetheless, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Joe Lieberman asked the Energy Department last Friday to investigate the cause of high gasoline prices and whether big oil companies were gouging consumers at the pump. Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York Sunday urged President Bush to order the release of 10 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to get more supplies in the market and help push down gasoline prices. The price for crude generally accounts for about 45 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline. The price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, sold in polluted metropolitan areas, increased almost a penny in the latest week to $1.868, according to the EIA survey. The West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline, with the average price in the region at $2.046 a gallon, down half a penny, the agency said. The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest gasoline with an average price of $1.592 a gallon, down 0.8 cent from the prior week. In urban areas, San Francisco maintained its top spot in fuel costs, although the average price was down 0.8 cent at $2.149 a gallon. Houston had the cheapest gasoline in major U.S. cities, with the price up 0.4 cent at $1.57 a gallon. The report also showed gasoline prices were down 1 cent in Los Angeles at $2.131, up 6.1 cents in New York City at $1.837, down 3 cents in Chicago at $1.807, up 2.3 cents in Miami at $1.73 and up 7.2 cents in Denver at $1.712. Separately, the average price for diesel fuel fell 0.2 cent in the latest week to $1.501 a gallon, up 11 cents from a year earlier. Truckers on the West Coast paid the most for diesel fuel at $1.681 a gallon, down 2.6 cents from the prior week. The lower Atlantic states had the cheapest diesel at $1.432, down 0.3 cent from the previous week. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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