Gas Prices Fall for Third Week

WASHINGTON

U.S. gasoline prices fell for a third week in a row last week, dropping 6.4 cents to $1.35 a gallon, the U.S. Energy Department reported yesterday.

The latest national pump price is 15 cents below a year ago, based on the Energy Information Administration's weekly survey of more than 800 service stations. The steep drop in prices reflects a falloff in demand from a slowing economy, plenty of gasoline supplies and cheaper crude oil costs.

The national average price for cleaner-burning reformulated gasoline, sold at about one-third of the stations in cities and smoggier areas, was down 4.9 cents to $1.44 a gallon.

The West Coast, which had the most expensive gasoline in the nation, saw prices fall 3.7 cents a gallon to $1.57. Motorists in the lower Atlantic states continued to have the cheapest fuel. Prices in that region were down 5.6 cents to $1.25 a gallon.

San Francisco maintained its top spot among major cities in fuel costs, although gasoline prices fell 3 cents to $1.77 a gallon. Houston again saw the best bargains, with gasoline at $1.27 a gallon, down 5.6 cents. The report also showed gasoline prices in New York City down 3.6 cents to $1.42; down 13 cents in Chicago to $1.51; and down 6.1 cents in Los Angeles to $1.46.

Meanwhile, the nationwide price for diesel fuel fell 1.9 cents to $1.37 a gallon, also down for the third week in a row and 24 cents lower from a year earlier. Truckers in the Rocky Mountain states paid the most for diesel fuel at $1.47 a gallon, which marked a drop of 3 cents. The lower Atlantic states had the cheapest diesel at $1.281 a gallon, down 2.7 cents.
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