Texas' Gas Prices On the Rise

15 March 2000

Texas' Gas Prices On the Rise

    HOUSTON--March 14, 2000--The statewide average price of self-serve regular gasoline has gone up 59 cents a gallon in 12 months, according to a AAA Texas survey. The current Texas statewide average price of a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded is $1.48, compared to $.89 a gallon this time last year.
    "The increase is due almost entirely to the decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to tighten supplies last March -- combined with currently low oil and gasoline inventories in the United States," says Rose Rougeau, spokesperson for AAA Texas.
    AAA reports that the average price for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline per gallon is $1.54 nationally. Prices have increased 57.3 cents since last March when the nationwide price was .97 cents a gallon. This is the biggest one-year rise ever experienced in the United States.
    OPEC's decision to cut back on oil production last March reduced production by 4 million barrels per day. AAA Texas is hopeful OPEC will agree to boost oil production by at least 2.5 million barrels a day at its March 27 meeting in Vienna.
    AAA and AAA Texas commission their Fuel Gauge Reports as a service to motorists and the media. The current reports are based on data gathered March by the Oil Price Information Service -- the nation's most comprehensive source of petroleum pricing information.
    AAA Texas has been serving Texans since 1905. Today, AAA Texas offers its members a full-service travel agency, auto-related services, financial services, public safety programs and legislative advocacy.

    Note: Attached is March 14, 2000, average price information for 15 Texas cities.



                      AAA TEXAS FUEL GAUGE REPORT
         AVERAGE PRICE OF SELF-SERVE REGULAR UNLEADED GASOLINE
                       IN SELECTED TEXAS CITIES

City              ST     March '00  March '99
                       
Abilene           TX      1.491      0.8927
Amarillo          TX      1.488      0.9169
Austin            TX      1.457      0.8826
Beaumont          TX      1.482      0.8593
Brownsville       TX      1.471      0.9114
Corpus Christi    TX      1.465      0.8569
Dallas            TX      1.494      0.9152
El Paso           TX      1.473      0.9385
Fort Worth        TX      1.472      0.8919
Houston           TX      1.518      0.8994
Laredo            TX      1.460      0.8960
Longview          TX      1.477      0.8951
Lubbock           TX      1.483      0.8871
San Antonio       TX      1.444      0.8569
Waco              TX      1.457      0.8470
                  Avg     1.475      0.8909

                           (March 2000)   (March 1999)
                           ------------   ------------

National Average Price       $1.543           $.97       up 57.3 cents

(a) Survey Commissioned by AAA Texas on March 14, 2000