AAA Finds Gas Price Seesaw

    ORLANDO, Fla.--March 13, 2001--Nationwide, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline is down 4.2 cents per gallon from last month to $1.435, according to AAA. However, the motor club said motorists on the West Coast are finding fuel prices higher for the month while car owners in the Midwest and East are enjoying lower prices.
    AAA's monthly Fuel Gauge Report shows the divergent price pattern is most pronounced between the West - where the cost of regular unleaded is up an average 2.8 cents to $1.60 per gallon -- and the Midwest, where prices are down an average 8.6 cents to $1.41 per gallon.
    The difference in price movements is due mainly to a switch from winter grade to summer grade fuels that occurs earlier in California than in the rest of the nation, AAA said. As Midwestern and Eastern states draw down their supplies of winter-grade gasoline, fuel prices should remain moderate.
    Prices are expected to turn higher in the rest of the country with the approach of summer and the introduction of more costly to produce lower-volatility, clean-burning gasoline.
    This month the nationwide average price of gasoline is 3.6 cents lower than one year ago when the average price was $1.471 per gallon. March is the 14th consecutive month of gasoline prices in excess of $1.30 per gallon.
    In other regions of the country this month, the price of self-serve regular unleaded decreased an average 2.4 cents in the Mid-Atlantic states to $1.452. In New England, prices fell 1.2 cents to $1.50. Gasoline prices in the Great Lakes states were down an average .7 cent to $1.388 per gallon. Prices were .5 cent lower in the Southeast, averaging $1.379 per gallon. In the Southwest, prices dipped .4 cent lower to $1.396 per gallon.
    Nationwide, the price of self-serve, mid-grade averages $1.523 per gallon, a drop of 5.5 cents from last month, and 3.9 cents less expensive than last year.
    Self-serve premium averages $1.578, down 4.7 cents since mid-February, and 4.1 cents lower than one year ago. The national average prices for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline for AAA's March survey for the last five years were: 2000, $1.543; 1999, $.97; 1998, $1.081; 1997, $1.271; and 1996, $1.18.
    AAA's Fuel Gauge Report is based on data from Oil Price Information Service -- the nation's most comprehensive source of petroleum pricing information.