US retail gasoline price off almost penny a gallon

WASHINGTON, Nov 12, 2002; Reuters is reporting U.S. retail gasoline prices fell 0.9 cents a gallon to $1.439, coinciding with a recent drop in crude oil costs, the Energy Department said on Tuesday.

Gasoline costs are up 26 cents a gallon from a year ago, based on a weekly survey of more than 800 service stations by the department's Energy Information Administration.

The national price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, which is sold at about one-third of the gas stations in cities and smoggier areas, was up 1.6 cents to $1.505 a gallon, EIA said.

The West Coast had the most expensive regular unleaded gasoline, with the average weekly price in the region up 2.2 cents to $1.521 a gallon, EIA said.

The lower Atlantic states had the cheapest fuel, as the average price was down 1.3 cents to $1.374 a gallon.

Among cities, San Francisco kept its top spot in fuel costs, with the price up 3.4 cents to $1.682 a gallon. Houston had the best deal at the pump, with gasoline unchanged at $1.372 a gallon.

The report also showed gasoline prices down 0.3 cents in Chicago at $1.545, up 2.5 cents in Los Angeles at $1.54, up 1.8 cents in New York City at $1.521 and down 1.1 cents in Denver at $1.459.

The biggest year-on-year change in city pump prices was in Los Angeles, where gasoline costs were up 31 cents a gallon from a year earlier.

Separately, the nationwide price for diesel fuel fell for the fourth week in a row, down 1.5 cents to $1.427 a gallon. But this was still 16 cents higher from a year ago.

Truckers on the West Coast paid the most for diesel fuel at $1.517 a gallon, down 0.4 cents from the prior week.

The Gulf Coast states had the cheapest diesel at $1.371 a gallon, down 2.3 cents.