Lower gas prices may be coming

Those recent days when Utah's gasoline prices were the lowest in the country are long gone.

But even though the cost to fill your tank has gone up in the past month, lower oil prices mean some relief may be on the way.

AAA Utah reported Tuesday that the average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the state rose 20 cents in the last month to $2.28, pushing Utah into the top half of the nation's prices.

Meanwhile, the national average dropped 3 cents from January to $2.29 per gallon, AAA said.

"Fuel prices have become particularly unstable in the past few weeks," said Rolayne Fairclough, AAA Utah spokeswoman, in a prepared statement. "Worries about the security of crude oil supplies are pushing prices up while growing domestic inventories of domestic crude oil and refined products are pushing prices down."

Indeed, oil prices sank below $60 a barrel Tuesday, and gasoline futures descended to their lowest price in almost a year as traders turned their attention to rising supplies and away from geopolitical tensions.

Light sweet crude for March delivery fell $1.67 to settle at $59.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest close for front-month oil futures since Dec. 27.

IFR Energy Services analyst Tim Evans said that "as prices drop toward the lower part of their recent range, we expect more than a glimmer of recognition that the downside for this market may be far more open than the average observer now believes."

Evans sees technical support at $55.40 a barrel, but says if that level is breached, crude futures could potentially fall to $40 a barrel.

The declines come as traders anticipate that the U.S. Energy Department's weekly petroleum supply snapshot, due today, would likely show climbing oil stocks for the seventh straight week. Already, the nation's commercial inventory of crude oil is nearly 11 percent above year-ago levels.

Despite those increasing inventories, AAA reported that gasoline prices have increased throughout the Intermountain West, with the exception of Colorado, where the average price dropped 6 cents in the last month to $2.24 per gallon. Idaho's price rose 16 cents to $2.29, Nevada's rose 17 cents to $2.49 and California's went up 20 cents to $2.56.

All of the Utah cities surveyed by AAA experienced double-digit increases in average prices during the past month. Vernal, Ogden and Logan all saw jumps of 21 cents per gallon. Provo's motorists saw the largest increase, up 25 cents to $2.25. Salt Lake prices rose 23 cents, also to an average of $2.25 per gallon.

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

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E-mail: gkratz@desnews.com