AAA Texas: Weekend Gas Watch, Prices in Corpus Christi Jump - Most of Texas is Stable

HOUSTON--Oct. 1, 20037, 2003--While the price of gasoline remained stable in much of Texas, prices in Corpus Christi and San Antonio rose quickly over the past week, according to the Weekend Gas Watch by AAA Texas.

The Texas average for a gallon of regular self-serve gasoline is $1.43- one cent higher than last week's average, and 4 cents more than last year's average. Corpus Christi remains the cheapest for the sixth straight week, averaging $1.37 a gallon - but motorists there saw their pump prices jump by six cents per gallon from last week. Dallas has the most expensive gasoline in the survey with regular gas averaging $1.450 per gallon, up only one-tenth of a cent from last week.

"While prices jumped in Corpus Christi and rose to a lesser degree in San Antonio, the pump prices there are still lower than in most parts of Texas," said Rose Rougeau, spokesperson for AAA Texas. "The twin market conditions of full inventories and increasing gasoline imports point to a trend of price stability for the at least the next two weeks."

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline at popular destinations for automobile trips.

Average prices as of 12:01 a.m., October 17, 2003:

Area               Regular          Change          Record Price
Austin-San Marcos  $1.396        + 0.9 cents       $1.580 (3/19/03)

Corpus Christi     $1.365        + 6.0 cents       $1.590 (2/20/03)

Dallas             $1.450        - 0.1 cents       $1.666 (5/12/01)

Fort Worth         $1.427         +0.1 cents       $1.660 (5/22/01)

Houston            $1.422         +0.1 cents       $1.639 (5/12/01)

San Antonio        $1.368         +1.5 cents       $1.582 (3/18/03)