Shopping for gasoline can pay off

If you're headed out of town for the Labor Day weekend, you might want to drive around the area before you leave.

It's not that you'll miss it so much, but you might miss out on some less-expensive gas prices if you don't look around.

As the summer's final vacation weekend approaches, the average Salt Lake gas price hovers at $1.47 for a gallon of unleaded regular, according to AAA Utah.

But prices along the Wasatch Front range as high as $1.56 in Salt Lake City to as low as $1.40 a gallon, and even less, in several locations, including West Valley City, West Jordan, North Salt Lake, Draper, Layton and Payson.

AAA Utah spokeswoman Rolayne Fairclough said now is the time refineries are beginning to shift from summer gasoline production to winter fuel production, and that means the price charged to station owners can decline as the surplus is sold.

What those individual retailers do with their own prices can fluctuate, however. Some may keep prices high to maximize profits. Others may drop prices to draw more customers and increase business.

"This is a time when you can really see some bargains in gas," Fairclough said. "It's a good time to really look while you're driving, really keep your eyes open, because there's some variation in prices."

The Salt Lake average has remained about the same since the Fourth of July, when it was at $1.45 for a gallon of unleaded regular. The

current average of $1.47 is the highest in the past year, according to AAA Utah. The lowest average so far in 2002 was in January at $1.08.

The statewide average now stands at $1.49, compared with $1.42 a gallon this time last year, according to AAA Utah. But a Deseret News survey found higher prices at popular vacation destinations such as Bullfrog Marina ($1.62), Moab ($1.56) and St. George ($1.55).

Outside Utah, the Deseret News found regular unleaded prices as high as $1.78 per gallon in San Francisco, $1.69 in West Yellowstone and $1.68 in both Los Angeles and Lake Tahoe. Denver had one of the lowest prices in the West at $1.48.

The Web site for petroleum retailer Flying J, which has 18 fueling stations in Utah, reports a high of $1.49 in Richfield and a low of $1.37 in North Salt Lake.