Two months after setting all-time-high records, gas prices continue to drop along the Wasatch Front, with a $2.13 sighting Wednesday.
The downward trend is nationwide, as demand for gasoline has dropped. "People themselves have taken the initiative" to drive less, says Rolayne Fairclough, spokeswoman for AAA Utah. And, too, the demand typically goes down in the fall, she says.
John Hill, executive director of the Utah Petroleum Marketers and Retailers Association, was thrilled to tank up for $2.15 a gallon on Tuesday in Sugar House. The gas station was packed, he reports.
"We should see a continual reduction in price, barring any unforeseen disasters that have been plaguing us recently," Hill says.
According to the Automobile Association of America, the average price for regular gasoline in the Salt Lake City-Ogden area was $2.39, compared to $2.78 a month ago and $1.99 a year ago. In the Provo-Orem area, the price of regular was $2.48 on Wednesday.
It helps to shop around, though: AAA reported that the price of regular in Salt Lake City ranged from a low of $2.14 to a high of $2.89. And, too, notes Jeff Cole, national head of retail gas operations for Costco, the "twitchiness of the marketplace" means that gas prices fluctuate day to day.
According to AAA, Utah's gas prices are the 12th highest in the nation but are lower than in Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico and Nevada. High transportation costs and not much competition tend to keep gasoline prices higher in the Mountain West, says the AAA's Fairclough.
Nationally, the average price of regular was $2.36, compared to $2.89 a month ago and the record high of $3.06 in September.
Diesel prices continue to outpace gasoline prices, with an average price of $3.13 in the Salt Lake City-Ogden area, compared to $2.36 a year ago. That's bad news for diesel users like the Utah Transit Authority.
"When demand for home heating oil goes up in the winter, our prices go up," explains UTA spokesperson Justin Jones. Typically prices spike later in winter, "so we've yet to see our high point," he says.
On the other hand, high gas prices in general have helped UTA's ridership. October saw a TRAX record, with 52,536 riders a day, up 21 percent over last year.
Nationally, oil prices fell Wednesday to their lowest level in more than three months, settling below $59 a barrel after the U.S. government said supplies of oil and gasoline rose. Gasoline inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels, to 201.1 million barrels, nearly 2 percent lower than levels a year ago but now in the upper half of the average range for this time of year.
Warmer-than-usual weather in the U.S. Northeast and Midwest in recent days has helped to bring prices down from late August highs above $70 a barrel, and Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York said crude futures could fall to the $55 a barrel level. However, the first cold spell could put a stop to the downward momentum, he said.
Contributing: The Associated Press.
E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com