The average U.S. retail price for gasoline fell for the ninth week in 10, declining 1.1 cents to a four-month low of $1.487 a gallon, as refiners passed along cheaper crude-oil costs to motorists, the Energy Department said Tuesday.
The nationwide average for regular-grade fuel is down 24.1 cents, or 14 percent, from a record $1.728 in the week ended March 17. The price, for the week ended Monday, was still up 7.2 percent from $1.387 a year ago. The latest price was the lowest since $1.473 in the week ended Jan. 27.
Gasoline followed crude prices lower as concern eased that the war in Iraq would disrupt Persian Gulf shipments. Oil production worldwide has surged in recent months and U.S. imports have risen. That's helped to send crude down more than 20 percent since mid-March, based on futures traded in New York.
"Prices are still reflecting the long downward trend in crude oil prices," Energy Department economist Doug MacIntyre said.
Pump prices may not fall much more because motorist demand is increasing as weather warms and U.S. gasoline supplies remain below-normal, traders said.
"Unless we really start building some inventories in the gasoline, I wouldn't look for the retail to slide much further," said Alan Stanley, a trader at Tauber Oil Co., a Houston independent petroleum trader. "But we've probably seen the peak."
Oil accounted for about 41 percent of the retail gasoline price during April, with the rest reflecting taxes, refining, distribution and marketing, the Energy Department said. Every $1 move in crude prices typically results in a corresponding move of about 2.5 cents in gasoline, analysts estimated.
The nationwide price is based on a survey of about 900 filling stations in 50 states.
Pump prices fell in every region of the United States except the Gulf of Mexico region, the government said. Gasoline was most expensive on the West Coast, where regular-grade fuel averaged $1.699 a gallon, down from $1.735 the previous week. Prices were $1.836 in San Francisco and $1.749 in Los Angeles. The West Coast average was still up from $1.505 a year ago.
Prices were cheapest at the Gulf at $1.369 a gallon, unchanged from the previous week. East Coast prices averaged $1.442 a gallon, down 0.8 cent, and Midwest prices averaged $1.471, down 0.4 cent. Chicago gasoline averaged $1.591, up 2.5 cents from the previous week.
While crude oil prices are down from 12-year highs in February and March, when the market approached $40 a barrel, they have risen 15 percent this month. A move higher or lower in the price of crude takes up to 2 1/2 months to fully pass through to the pump, according to the Energy Department.