LA Auto Club: Lower Gas Prices Are Gift to Holiday Travelers; National Average Higher for the Past Week

LOS ANGELES--Dec. 25, 2003--Gasoline prices moved lower last week on ample supplies in the Southland and lower wintertime demand, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The national average for gasoline increased by 1.4 cents per gallon, due primarily to increased demand for heating fuels in the nation's midsection.

Currently, the average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $1.639, which is 2.4 cents lower than last week. This price is 10 cents lower than last month and 11 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $1.663, which is 1.8 cents below last week's level, 8 cents below last month and 7 cents higher than last year. Motorists in the central coast pay an average price of $1.749, which is 2.1 cents lower than last week's price, 8 cents below last month and 14 cents higher than last year.

"With more people on the road this year for the holidays, motorists will find lower prices throughout the Southwest," said Carol Thorp, Auto Club spokesperson. "We expect this trend to continue for the next couple of weeks."

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline at metropolitan destinations throughout the nation. Average prices as of 12:01 a.m., Dec. 25, 2003:

Area                         Regular Change from     Record Price
                                      last week

Los Angeles-Long Beach       $1.639     -$0.024      $2.167 (3/22/03)
San Diego                    $1.663     -$0.018      $2.211 (3/20/03)
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-   
Lompoc                       $1.749     -$0.021      $2.233 (8/27/03)
National Average             $1.485     +$0.014      $1.737 (8/30/03)
New York                     $1.740     -$0.005      $1.968 (9/6/03)
Washington, D.C.             $1.574     -$0.018      $1.797 (5/16/01)
Boston                       $1.541     -$0.004      $1.812 (9/3/03)
Philadelphia                 $1.534     -$0.009      $1.807 (9/3/03)
Atlanta                      $1.345     +$0.015      $1.589 (3/18/03)
Miami                        $1.500     +$0.004      $1.761 (3/18/03)
Chicago                      $1.577     +$0.004      $2.142 (6/19/00)
Detroit                      $1.470     +$0.036      $2.137 (6/20/00)
Kansas City, MO              $1.373     +$0.021      $1.790 (6/21/00)
St. Louis                    $1.378     +$0.014      $1.767 (5/17/01)
Denver                       $1.438     +$0.081      $1.780 (6/5/01)
Dallas                       $1.420     +$0.019      $1.666 (5/12/01)
Houston                      $1.388     +$0.019      $1.639 (5/12/01)
Salt Lake City               $1.505     -$0.019      $1.789 (9/4/03)
Las Vegas                    $1.611     -$0.023      $2.063 (3/25/03)
Phoenix                      $1.499     -$0.013      $2.146 (8/26/03)
Seattle                      $1.516     -$0.016      $1.969 (9/4/03)
San Francisco                $1.750     -$0.014      $2.276 (3/19/03)
Honolulu                     $2.010     -$0.001      $2.054 (10/2/03)

The national average price of regular gasoline inched up in the past week but the expectation for the next few weeks is for a downward trend. There is plenty of supply due to gasoline imports going into January, which traditionally is a low demand month.