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| High gas prices are beginning to threaten U.S. auto sales. CNN's Maggie Lake reports (November 1) |
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Gasoline erased nearly two more cents from pump prices Friday, while diesel prices broke the $3 a gallon mark, according to travel club AAA.
The nationwide average price for regular unleaded fell to $2.431 a gallon from $2.448 Friday, according to AAA's "Daily Fuel Gauge Report." The price is down nearly 21 percent from the record high of $3.057 reached on Labor Day, following Hurricane Katrina.
Gasoline prices, which have steadily posted declines of one to two cents per day recently, are down from $2.941 a month ago, but up from $2.011 a year ago, AAA says, a year-over-year increase of nearly 21 percent.
Retail diesel prices, which had not experienced the same level of declines as gasoline, fell below the $3 mark Friday, dropping four cents Friday to $2.976 a gallon from $3.013. Diesel prices are down more than 8 percent from a record $3.239 set Oct. 24, but they're up 33 percent from $2.235 a year ago.
Gasoline prices have steadily fallen on signs that the soaring expense of energy is finally starting to curb consumption within the U.S., the world's biggest user of fuel.
But the U.S. government reported Wednesday in its weekly inventory report that demand for gasoline was running 1.7 percent lower than the year before. That drop in demand was smaller than the two percent drop seen since Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and led some analysts to believe the falloff was due more to regional disruptions caused by the storms rather than a fundamental change in consumption patterns.
Many analysts are expecting prices to rebound as demand picks up and winter approaches.
On a state-by-state basis, AAA says Hawaiians pay the most for regular unleaded at $2.879 a gallon. Oklahoma has the lowest prices, at $2.114 a gallon.
The average price for a gallon of mid-grade gasoline fell nearly two cents Friday to $2.581, according to AAA. Premium unleaded also declined almost two cents to $2.675 a gallon.
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Gas prices may be going down, but what about your heating bill? Click here.
Click here for CNN/Money's special report 'Oil Crunch 2005.'
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