Retail gasoline prices have dropped nearly a penny a gallon over the past two weeks, largely a result of prices falling in West Coast cities, a new survey says.

But analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that tension in the Middle East threatens to reverse the downward trend.Friday's average per-gallon retail price, including all grades and taxes, was $1.2901, down 0.81 of a cent per gallon, said Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey of 10,000 gasoline stations.

The main factor driving the return to lower prices since a peak in the spring has been increased supplies, but Lundberg warned that crude oil prices have increased nearly a nickel a gallon because of tension in Iraq.

If supply uncertainty persists, gasoline prices would rise, she said.

In Friday's survey, the average price for unleaded gasoline at self-service pumps was $1.2225 per gallon for regular, $1.3237 for mid-grade and $1.4058 for premium.

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At full-service pumps, the average was $1.5769 per gallon for regular unleaded, $1.6659 for mid-grade unleaded and $1.7326 for premium unleaded.

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