State Gasoline Prices Fall Again
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Only three months after the average price of gasoline in California soared to a record high of nearly $2 a gallon, the price has now plummeted to its lowest point in nearly 18 months, the Energy Department said Monday.
The average price for self-serve regular slipped to $1.560 a gallon in the week ended Monday from $1.616 the prior week and now stands at its cheapest level since Feb. 28, 2000, when the price averaged $1.530 a gallon, according to the agency’s Energy Information Administration.
Tight supplies of fuel, along with drivers’ continued heavy demand for gasoline, combined to drive pump prices sharply higher, when the average price hit a record $1.954 a gallon in the week ended May 14. Many California service stations were selling all grades for $2 a gallon or more.
But prices then quickly turned back down as oil refiners aggressively boosted production and imports of gasoline increased.
The average national price for gasoline turned up slightly in the latest week, to $1.392 a gallon from $1.376 the prior week, the EIA said.
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