AAA Texas: Weekend Gas Watch; Pain at the Pumps

IRVING, Texas--Jan. 2, 20058, 2005--Motorists are paying more at the pumps as the price of gasoline increased for the third straight week, according to AAA Texas' Weekend Gas Watch.

The statewide average price for a gallon of regular self-serve gasoline is up 3.4 cents to $1.792.

Corpus Christi's average increased less two cents a gallon to $1.767, the cheapest on the list. Dallas posted the biggest increase of nearly five cents to have the highest gas average at $1.806 a gallon.

"Retail gasoline prices have increased as the price of crude oil continued to rise from a low of $41 a barrel in early December to nearly $49 barrel this week," said Rose Rougeau, spokesperson for AAA Texas. "The arrival of sharply lower temperatures in many parts of the United States spurred demand for heating oil and the crude oil needed to produce it. As crude oil prices have risen, so have gas prices."

The national average for regular self-serve gasoline increased three cents to $1.861 a gallon.

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

Average Daily Prices as of 12:01 a.m., Jan. 28, 2005:

                                                           Last Year's
Area              Current      Change      Record Price       Price
----------------- --------  ------------ ----------------- -----------
National           $1.861   + 3.5 cents  $2.054 (05/26/04)   $1.617
State              $1.792   + 3.4 cents  $1.927 (05/26/04)   $1.534

Austin-San Marcos  $1.785   + 3.6 cents  $1.929 (05/27/04)   $1.519
Beaumont           $1.770   + 3.6 cents  $1.903 (06/01/04)   $1.530
Corpus Christi     $1.767   + 1.6 cents  $1.925 (05/26/04)   $1.534
Dallas             $1.806   + 4.5 cents  $1.932 (05/27/04)   $1.545
Ft. Worth          $1.794   + 2.5 cents  $1.924 (05/28/04)   $1.532
Galveston-Texas
 City              $1.780   + 4.1 cents  $1.922 (06/01/04)   $1.519
Houston            $1.779   + 4.0 cents  $1.909 (06/01/04)   $1.533
San Antonio        $1.769   + 2.6 cents  $1.952 (05/26/04)   $1.503

AAA Texas, an affiliate of AAA National, has been serving Texans since 1902. Today, more than a million AAA Texas members benefit from the organization's roadside assistance service, travel agency, financial products, insurance products and services, automotive pricing, buying and financing, trip planning services and traffic safety programs. Information about these products and services is available on AAA Texas' Web site at www.aaa-texas.com.