AAA Reports Gas Prices Rising as Demand, Oil Prices and Global Tensions Mount

BURNSVILLE, Minn., April 12 -- AAA reports that the current nationwide average price for self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline is $2.695. This is more than 33 cents higher than last month's 2.363 price, and nearly 43 cents higher than last year's $2.266.

Gasoline prices are being driven up by rising U.S. demand that is 1.5 percent higher than last year and oil prices that have been pushed up due to tensions between Iran and the United States. Additional pressure comes from U.S. refineries as they make their seasonal switch to the production of cleaner burning summer-grade fuels, made even more difficult this year by the change from using MTBE to ethanol, which has caused declines in gasoline inventories in the past several weeks.

"The U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration forecasted this week that summer pump prices will average $2.65 per gallon," said Dawn Duffy, AAA Minneapolis spokesperson. "AAA fears this assessment may be too conservative if refineries are not able to return to full production fairly quickly, if crude oil stays near $70 per barrel, and if our country's gasoline inventories to not begin rising sharply in the next few weeks."

Reports for April 12, 2006, reflect the following average prices per gallon for self-serve, regular unleaded gas:

                        Current        Month Ago       Year Ago
   National              $2.70           $2.36          $2.27
   Iowa                  $2.62           $2.37          $2.22
   Cedar Rapids          $2.66           $2.42          $2.26
   Davenport             $2.62           $2.38          $2.20
   Des Moines            $2.61           $2.33          $2.22
   Sioux City            $2.63           $2.36          $2.23
   Waterloo              $2.59           $2.34          $2.19

AAA's Fuel Gauge Report is based upon data from the Oil Price Information Service, the nation's most comprehensive source of petroleum pricing statistics, and can be found at http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/ .

AAA ( http://www.aaa.com/ ) offers automotive, travel, insurance and financial services to more than 49 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA Minnesota/Iowa is part of The Auto Club Group, with 4.1 million members in eight Midwest states.