North state gas costs still rising: Prices higher in eight of nine cities checked By Mark Glover Bee Staff Writer (Published April 5, 2000)

Gas prices in Northern California cities have continued to climb despite indications that fuel costs are now inching downward statewide, AAA of Northern California reported Tuesday.

A AAA survey of nine Northern California cities on Tuesday found prices in eight higher now than in a survey three weeks ago.

In Sacramento, the latest survey showed the average price of regular unleaded gasoline at $1.83 per gallon, up 6 cents from the previous survey. That was the sharpest increase among the nine Northern California cities, although the per-gallon cost was well below that in San Francisco ($1.94 a gallon).

Only Concord had a decrease in per-gallon price compared with the previous AAA survey -- $1.80 a gallon, a penny less than three weeks ago.

The average retail price of regular unleaded gasoline in California peaked about two weeks ago at $1.79 -- an all-time high -- and has since fallen by 2 cents a gallon to $1.77, according to weekly surveys of 38 California stations by the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Better refinery production and lower oil prices are bringing penny-by-penny relief at the gas pumps," said Paul Moreno, spokesman for AAA of Northern California. "Once again, we are seeing gas prices go up like a rocket and come down like a feather."

Analysts noted that California gas prices are prone to volatility, because high oil prices earlier this year left domestic oil and gasoline stocks low as refineries curtailed crude purchases and gasoline production.

http://www.sacbee.com/ib/news/ib_news05_20000405.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 05, 2000