Utah gas prices jump

Spiking gas prices are striking "a brutal blow" to Utah consumers, according to AAA Utah spokeswoman Rolayne Fairclough.

Crude oil costs hovering near $60 per barrel and the typical summer increase in fuel consumption as people drive to vacation spots have combined to help push up Utah's gasoline prices this month, according to AAA's latest price survey, released Tuesday.

The organization said the average price in the state of regular, self-serve gasoline has tied an all-time high at $2.30 per gallon, up 8 cents from about a month ago. A year ago, the average price in Utah was $1.91 per gallon.

Meanwhile, the national average price skyrocketed 18 cents from last month to hit $2.31 per gallon in AAA's new survey. The national average a year ago was $1.92 per gallon.

"The best thing you can do in times like these is shop around to make sure you're paying the cheapest price available," Fairclough said in a press release, adding that consumers can go online to aaa.com/gasprices for help in making comparisons.

Prices for crude oil, the raw material from which gasoline is made, drifted higher Tuesday despite only limited supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Emily in the Gulf of Mexico.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose 14 cents to settle at $57.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

All of the Utah cities surveyed by AAA experienced increasing prices for regular, self-serve gasoline since the organization's last report on June 14.

Vernal motorists saw the smallest increase, 2 cents, for a current average of $2.32 per gallon. Provo's prices rose 4 cents to $2.23, while prices in St. George rose 6 cents to $2.33.

Logan's price increased 8 cents to $2.31 per gallon, and Salt Lake City motorists faced a whopping 11-cent jump to an average of $2.26 per gallon. Ogden's average is up a nickel to $2.25, while Moab's rose 6 cents to $2.41.

AAA Utah surveys a limited number of communities across the state in its monthly gasoline price survey, and the resulting figures are averages. Individual service stations sell gas at both higher and lower prices, sometimes even in the same city block.

Rising prices are common throughout the Intermountain West. Idaho's average gas price jumped 10 cents in the last month to $2.35 per gallon, while Wyoming's went up 12 cents to $2.26. Colorado's prices climbed 18 cents to $2.30 per gallon, and Nevada's rose 19 cents to $2.52.

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Contributing: Associated Press

E-mail: gkratz@desnews.com