Dan Lundberg

I was deeply saddened by the news of Dan Lundberg's untimely death. The Times accurately reported that Dan was much more than an oil industry analyst. He was a strong person whose communicative gifts endeared him to his friends and colleagues and undoubtedly frustrated society's merchants of evil. That international consortium of price-fixers known as OPEC will not miss Dan Lundberg. Those who care about energy security and do want not to repeat mistakes of the past will surely miss him. It was an oversight that The Times article did not mention Dan's devotion to his family.

One year ago this weekend, some 30 employees of Lundberg Survey gathered in a banquet room at the Burbank Airport Hilton for what turned into an embarrassing family fracas. The topic was to have been the future of the North Hollywood company following the death of 73-year-old company patriarch Dan Lundberg, the nation's guru of gasoline.

Dan Lundberg, the flamboyant and fiercely independent "Prophet of the Pumps," died Sunday after suffering a stroke while on a cruise to Santa Catalina Island. America's best-known analyst of retail gasoline supplies and prices was 73 and had been semi-retired for two years as publisher of the Lundberg Letter. He continued, however, to take phone calls from many of his old media contacts.

The publisher of The Lundberg Letter, a widely read publication that informs the energy industry of market trends, is suing her brother, claiming that he infringed on the newsletter's trademark and its method of gathering information in a competing publication. The U.S. District Court suit was filed Friday against Jan C. Lundberg on behalf of Lundberg Survey Inc., North Hollywood publisher of The Lundberg Letter, which was founded by the late Dan Lundberg.

Motorists can expect to pay more for gasoline in the next few days because of the OPEC decision to tighten oil supplies, but an industry expert said Sunday that the hike may be short-lived. The Lundberg Survey of 16,000 gasoline stations nationwide found pump prices as of Saturday had dropped an average 1.67 cents per gallon since the July 25 sampling, editor Jan Lundberg said in his first analysis since the death of his father, Dan Lundberg, who suffered a stroke Aug. 3.

One year ago this weekend, some 30 employees of Lundberg Survey gathered in a banquet room at the Burbank Airport Hilton for what turned into an embarrassing family fracas. The topic was to have been the future of the North Hollywood company following the death of 73-year-old company patriarch Dan Lundberg, the nation's guru of gasoline.

The publisher of The Lundberg Letter, a widely read publication that informs the energy industry of market trends, is suing her brother, claiming that he infringed on the newsletter's trademark and its method of gathering information in a competing publication. The U.S. District Court suit was filed Friday against Jan C. Lundberg on behalf of Lundberg Survey Inc., North Hollywood publisher of The Lundberg Letter, which was founded by the late Dan Lundberg.

New limits on the amount of lead in gasoline may drive up prices for regular automobile fuel as oil companies substitute more costly ethanol as an additive, an industry analyst in Los Angeles said Sunday. The new limits on lead content, set by the Environmental Protection Agency as a way to reduce smog, take effect Jan. 1. The change in the amount of lead allowed in gasoline could eventually bring the price of regular up to that of unleaded, oil industry analyst Dan Lundberg said.

Retail gasoline prices, which have jumped nearly 9 cents per gallon in the last three months, are continuing to rise because of changing regulations on leaded gas and traditional summer increases in demand, oil industry analyst Dan Lundberg said. Retail prices also are expected to rise as they catch up with wholesale prices that have been increasing faster, he said. Higher crude oil spot prices also have been pushing retail prices up, he said.

The average price went up 5.5 cents a gallon over the past two weeks, oil analyst Dan Lundberg said, but gasoline prices average 27 cents a gallon cheaper this Memorial Day than last. "Still down the line is the Fourth of July, when we can expect another increase of 3 cents a gallon for a total increase of about 8 cents," he said. Average prices at self-service pumps, based on Lundberg's survey, were: regular leaded, 83.11 cents a gallon; regular unleaded, 88.

I was deeply saddened by the news of Dan Lundberg's untimely death. The Times accurately reported that Dan was much more than an oil industry analyst. He was a strong person whose communicative gifts endeared him to his friends and colleagues and undoubtedly frustrated society's merchants of evil. That international consortium of price-fixers known as OPEC will not miss Dan Lundberg. Those who care about energy security and do want not to repeat mistakes of the past will surely miss him. It was an oversight that The Times article did not mention Dan's devotion to his family.

Motorists can expect to pay more for gasoline in the next few days because of the OPEC decision to tighten oil supplies, but an industry expert said Sunday that the hike may be short-lived. The Lundberg Survey of 16,000 gasoline stations nationwide found pump prices as of Saturday had dropped an average 1.67 cents per gallon since the July 25 sampling, editor Jan Lundberg said in his first analysis since the death of his father, Dan Lundberg, who suffered a stroke Aug. 3.

Dan Lundberg, the flamboyant and fiercely independent "Prophet of the Pumps," died Sunday after suffering a stroke while on a cruise to Santa Catalina Island. America's best-known analyst of retail gasoline supplies and prices was 73 and had been semi-retired for two years as publisher of the Lundberg Letter. He continued, however, to take phone calls from many of his old media contacts.

New limits on the amount of lead in gasoline may drive up prices for regular automobile fuel as oil companies substitute more costly ethanol as an additive, an industry analyst in Los Angeles said Sunday. The new limits on lead content, set by the Environmental Protection Agency as a way to reduce smog, take effect Jan. 1. The change in the amount of lead allowed in gasoline could eventually bring the price of regular up to that of unleaded, oil industry analyst Dan Lundberg said.

Price wars have appeared in a few cities, oil industry analyst Dan Lundberg said. "There's no general retail gasoline price war going on in America, but there are almost a dozen cities in . . . the markets we survey in all 50 states that show exceptional below cost gas price competition," he noted. Lundberg, publisher of an industry newsletter, surveys retail gasoline prices around the nation every two weeks. The latest survey showed the average price at self-serve pumps of leaded regular at 90.