Gas prices hit record high

Lundberg survey has self-serve regular hitting a national average of $3.07 for a gallon


ATLANTA (CNN) -- The price of gasoline has hit a new record high, averaging $3.07 for a gallon of self-serve regular in the United States, a survey reported Sunday.

When inflation is factored in, the new price trails the all-time high in March 1981. At the time, gasoline cost $1.35 a gallon -- in today's dollars, that's $3.13 a gallon, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey.

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Still, in raw numbers, the $3.07 beats the previous high of $3.03 in August of 2006.

The survey, which took into account the prices at thousands of gas stations nationwide on May 4, found a 19-cent jump from the previous survey two weeks earlier.

Last month there was "substantial evidence" that gas prices would fall, but a series of "incidents" at a dozen refineries worldwide led the price to reverse course, Lundberg said.

In some cases, refineries began scheduled maintenance, but in other cases they experienced accidents that led some to shut down entirely and others to limit their capacity, she said.

Also, demand for gasoline grows at this time of year as Americans drive more in the warmer weather, she said.

The price of $3.07 is 12 cents higher than the survey found a year ago.

The city with the lowest average price found in the latest survey was Charleston, S.C., where a gallon of self-serve regular cost $2.80, the survey found. The highest average was $3.49 in San Francisco.

Average prices in some other cities:

Memphis 2.84

Houston 2.86

Atlanta 2.94

Boston 2.95

Salt Lake City 3.03

Las Vegas 3.12

Long Island 3.18

Chicago 3.31

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.