Utah gas prices hold steady: $2.90

Notice how much gasoline prices have fallen in the past few weeks?

No? Well, you're probably not alone. They've dropped only a penny per gallon.

AAA Utah, in its monthly report released Tuesday, said the state's average price for a gallon of regular, self-serve gasoline is $2.90, matching the national average and representing a 1 cent decrease from a month ago.

The national figure is down 3 cents from May but still 77 cents higher than a year ago. Utah's average is up 68 cents from last year.

"After six years of gasoline price increase, consumers are having a more and more difficult time absorbing these costs into their budgets," Rolayne Fairclough, AAA Utah spokeswoman in Utah, said in a prepared statement. "It is the cumulative effect of these high prices that are hurting individual families and businesses, and the high prices may be starting to have an even greater impact."

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.

Among Utah cities surveyed, Moab saw the biggest decrease, a 16-cent fall from a month ago to $2.94. Salt Lake City and St. George were down 2 cents, while Logan, Ogden and Provo were unchanged. Vernal saw the only increase, up a penny to $2.92.

Other Western states had a mixed bag of gasoline-pricing news. Many saw increases — Idaho was up 2 cents, Montana up 7 cents, Wyoming up 6 cents and Colorado up a penny — but Arizona, Nevada and California each saw prices fall 12 cents. Californians nonetheless are paying an average of $3.26 per gallon.

Meanwhile, crude-oil futures tumbled for the second straight day on Tuesday — part of a broader commodity sell-off that analysts ascribed to nervousness about rising inflation and interest rates. There is also evidence that worldwide energy demand is growing more slowly, and that is making the industry's supply constraints seem less worrisome, analysts said.

Light sweet crude for July delivery fell $1.80 to settle at $68.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest close since May 19. In London, July Brent crude futures declined by $2.01 to settle at $66.92 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Oil prices remain about 23 percent higher than a year ago.