GILROY
– Gasoline prices in Gilroy averaged nearly $2.23 Monday after a
roughly 6-cent increase over the weekend.
GILROY – Gasoline prices in Gilroy averaged nearly $2.23 Monday after a roughly 6-cent increase over the weekend.
Gas prices across the country rose by slightly more than 10 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, the biggest jump since August, an industry analyst said Sunday.
And they could go higher. Industry analysts say the price could reach $3 a gallon this summer.
Regular unleaded gas in Gilroy has cost more than $2 dollars since late February and now averages slightly higher than the state’s $2.21 per gallon. It was cheapest Monday at Costco Wholesale on Camino Arroyo and Condil Company on Chestnut Avenue, costing $2.17. It was most expensive at Chevron near Tenth and Monterey Streets, costing $2.33.
Hollister residents are paying an average of $2.22 for regular unleaded fuel, while Morgan Hill residents are faring better, paying an average of $2.18 for regular unleaded.
“I’m definitely feeling (the increase),” said Eva Lopez, filling up at the Shell station on Monterey Street at U.S. Highway 101. “I’m wondering if it’s ever going to get better.”
The weighted national average for all three grades of gasoline was just over $1.96 per gallon on Friday, according to Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the biweekly Lundberg Survey, which regularly polls 8,000 gas stations across the country.
Tight gasoline supplies and rising demand at a time when seasonal environmental regulations cause a price adjustment are responsible for the 10 1/3-cent price rise, Lundberg said.
“Those regulations have both a cost and supply impact on refiners,” Lundberg said. “We get less gasoline out at a higher cost just when we need more of it. Meanwhile, tighter regulations make it tougher for importers to bring in additional supplies.”
The nation’s economic growth also has increased demand, contributing to the rising prices, Lundberg said.
The average price of gasoline has broken all-time record highs for two consecutive months, although the average price remains about 90 cents a gallon lower compared to the peak gas price in March 1981 when adjusted for inflation, Lundberg said.
Crude oil prices reached a 13-year high of $40 a barrel on Friday, the highest since Oct. 11, 1990, in the run-up to the 1991 Gulf war. Prices for crude oil and for gas at the pump are unlikely to decline anytime soon, Lundberg said.
The national weighted average price of gasoline at self-serve pumps on Friday, including taxes, was about $1.93 for regular, $2.02 for mid-grade and $2.11 for premium.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lori Stuenkel covers education for The Dispatch. She can be reached at 842-6400 x277 or lo***@************ch.com.
