By Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer|May 19, 2008
Gasoline averaging more than $4 a gallon has arrived in more places in the U.S. -- although not across California.
Statewide, the average retail price for a gallon of self-serve regular rose by 3.3 cents over the last seven days, to $3.952, the Energy Department said today. The average is 51.6 cents higher than it was a year ago.
Nationally, the average climbed 6.9 cents to $3.791, or 57.3 cents more than a year ago, the department's Energy Information Administration said today in its weekly report.
In 15 cities tracked by AAA, the pump price has crossed the $4-a-gallon threshold. And in two counties in the country -- Yukon-Koyukuk in Alaska and Mono in California -- diesel is selling for more than $5 a gallon.
The AAA survey said Alaska had the most expensive gasoline on a statewide basis, at $4.059 a gallon, followed by Connecticut at $4.035, Illinois at $3.979, New York at $3.978 and California at $3.963. The lowest statewide average was $3.591 in Arizona.
"I thought it [the rise in prices] was going to end a few cents ago, but it's still going on. I don't know when this is going to end," said Fred Rozell, retail pricing director for the Oil Price Information Service in New Jersey, which conducts the survey for AAA.
Meanwhile, crude oil futures for June delivery closed above $127 for the first time, up 76 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $127.05 a barrel.
ron.white@latimes.com
