Gas soars 13 cents a gallon
Lundberg survey shows record $2.10 price for regular self-serve; 20-cent gain in past month.
March 20, 2005: 4:02 PM EST
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I can't wait for summer...
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ATLANTA (CNN) - The average price of a gallon of self-serve, regular gasoline shot up nearly 13 cents over the past two weeks, to a record $2.10, a national survey said Sunday.
The price exceeds the previous high of $2.07, which was set last May 21, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey.
Over the past month, crude oil prices rose 20 cents per gallon, versus a 19-cent rise at the pump, she said.
"Gas has now caught up with that month of oil price hikes," she said.
Even if the price of crude does not rise further, prices at the pump may continue to climb, because of required seasonal reformulations, she said.
March was the deadline for providing gas with a lower sulfur content at the retail level, which adds to the cost of gas.
"The seasonal regulations become tighter and more costly as we move toward summer, and our demand, of course, will be climbing, as it always does," she said.
"Short-term, we'll probably see some further increases at the pump," she said.
OPEC countries are slated to meet June 7 to discuss a possible increase in production.
Adjusted for inflation, the current gas price is not a record. That occurred in March 1981, when the Iranian revolution set off skyrocketing prices on the spot-oil market.
At $1.91 per gallon, the lowest price is in Newark, N.J., even though the state does not allow self-service pumps, Lundberg said. At $2.34 per gallon, Honolulu drivers paid the most.
Here are some other cities: Houston: $1.98; Atlanta: $2.01 Denver: $2.04; Boston: $2.04; Chicago: $2.22; San Francisco: $2.31.
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