Is relief on way at Utah gas pumps?

Utah motorists might see some relief at the gas pump as prices inched lower this week.

AAA Utah reported Tuesday that the price of regular gasoline was $2.89 per gallon — 1 cent lower than Monday's average price, and 2 cents less than than the highest-ever recorded price, reported on Saturday.

"The price spike of 45 cents per gallon in a week was the largest ever recorded by AAA," said Rolayne Fairclough, AAA Utah spokeswoman, in a prepared statement. "Now a week later, crude oil prices are falling and it is not unreasonable to expect gasoline prices will continue to decrease."

But by how much, and how fast?

Jim Wood, director of the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said though Hurricane Katrina may have exacerbated an already escalating situation, fuel prices were on the rise due to more lingering factors. In addition to worries about the effect of geopolitical uncertainty in oil-producing countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America, demand from emerging economies also put pressure on the equation, which likely meant that prices would have been high, if perhaps not quite as high as they went in the wake of Katrina, Wood said.

"My view is that even without Katrina, we were pretty much running full-out on the supply side," Wood said. "Supply was having a very difficult time keeping up with demand, and there is no sign that demand is going to slacken."

The average price nationwide for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.96 Tuesday, AAA reported. That was also 1 cent less than Monday, and 10 cents lower than the record-setting $3.06 price reported on Sept. 5.

In Utah, Ogden reported an average per-gallon price of $2.86, 50 cents higher than was reported in AAA's last report on Aug. 16. The price of a gallon of unleaded gas jumped 53 cents during the last month in Salt Lake City and Provo.

Vernal and St. George reported a 51-cent increase from last month, to $2.93 per gallon. Logan reported an average per-gallon price of $2.90, 52 cents higher than one month ago.

Neighboring states also reported skyrocketing prices. Idaho's average price was $2.93 per gallon, compared to $2.90 in Montana and $2.92 in Wyoming. California reported the highest per-gallon average price, at $3.03, followed by Nevada at $3.01.

"Even though the prices are starting to move downward, the supply situation is extremely tight and motorists should continue to conserve gasoline," Fairclough said. "Conservation helps protect motorists against high prices and assists in the national recovery from this natural disaster."

---

E-mail: jnii@desnews.com