Gas Prices in Sacramento, Calif., Area Jump to Record Level Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Publication date: 2000-07-20

Jul. 20--Despite gasoline prices dropping elsewhere in the nation, the cost of filling up continues to rise dramatically in Sacramento and Northern California. The California State Automobile Association's most recent monthly survey, conducted Tuesday, showed that the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded self-serve gas in Northern California was $1.88, up 17 cents from June, breaking the record of $1.83, set last March.

The July price was 29 cents higher than one year ago.

"Summer travel demands and high oil prices continue to push up retail prices in California," said Bob Brown, spokesman for AAA of Northern California.

In Sacramento, the average price was $1.83 a gallon, also up 17 cents from the price in June.

Karen Valencia of Antelope has started shopping around for gas for her Geo Tracker. Wednesday, she'd found unleaded regular at an Arco station on Broadway in Sacramento for $1.69 a gallon.

"My tank used to take $7 to fill. Now it takes like $17," said Valencia, who has cut back on clothes-buying to make up the difference. "It's expensive. It costs about $100 a month extra."

Carlos Nakata of Roseville, filling up his BMW sedan at a Union 76 station on 15th Street in Sacramento, is resigned to paying the going price.

"I just noticed it's $1.98. A couple weeks ago it was $1.80, $1.82," Nakata said. "There's nothing I can do about it. I've got to drive my car."

In the Bay Area, filling up costs even more. Prices there averaged $1.89, up 14 cents from June, breaking the record set last April 11 of $1.86.

Statewide, the average was $1.76, up a dime from June and 30 cents higher than last year. Southern California reported a slightly lower average on Tuesday of $1.72.

The highest recorded average in Northern California was in Eureka, coming in at $2.02 a gallon. The biggest June-to-July increases were in Chico and Redding, which saw 22-cent spikes in a month.

Despite the increases at the gas pump, there are signs that the summer crunch may soon be running its course.

"Wholesale prices are starting to trend seasonally downward," said Alan Kovski, an energy analyst with the Kiplinger Letter. "Consumers in California and Nevada should begin to see gradual relief at the pumps toward the end of July and through August."

In Nevada, the state average was $1.76, up 11 cents from June and a spike of 30 cents from a year ago. Reno had the highest price in Nevada at $1.81 a gallon.

Nationally, the average gas price was $1.58, nearly 6 cents lower than a month ago when AAA issued its June Fuel Gauge Report.

The West is now the highest-priced region, with prices up 6 cents per gallon in the past month to $1.69. New England experienced a 4.7-cent price hike to $1.67, and in the Mid-Atlantic states prices moved 3.7 cents higher to $1.63.

The region has regained the dubious honor from the Midwest, where prices pushed past $2 a gallon in recent weeks.

This week, Indiana's leading the nation in low gas prices, with other Midwestern states close behind.

"It's gone from being the high-cost region to being the low-cost region in a matter of several weeks," said Jonathan Cogan, spokesman for the federal Energy Information Administration. "In the most basic sense, it's supply and demand."

Pipeline problems were blamed for the summer spike in Midwest gas prices, with the industry saying it couldn't deliver enough fuel to keep prices down. Now the industry says those problems have been remedied, though the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether price-fixing was involved.

AAA motor club reported that gas prices in the Great Lakes region have dropped 30.3 cents per gallon since June, and in the rest of the Midwest they've come down 16.5 cents per gallon.

Bee staff writer Cheryl Miller and Bee news services contributed to this report.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 20, 2000