ORLANDO, Fla. -- After weeks of declining gasoline prices, Americans are again paying more at the pump with retailers charging an average of more than $2 per gallon in all but one state, AAA said.
The nationwide average price of self-serve regular gasoline had dropped to a season low of $2.122 per gallon on December 4, according to the organization's daily, online Fuel Gauge Report (http://www.aaafuelgaugereport.com), before reversing course and rising 5.8 cents to $2.18 per gallon as of [image-nocss] Tuesday. That compares to a nationwide average price of $1.866 per gallon a year ago
AAA cited energy demand created by cold winter temperatures and the approaching holidays as the main reasons.
The highest statewide average price is in Hawaii at $2.64 per gallon. Motorists in Alaska are paying the next highest price at $2.503 per gallon. New Yorkers are paying an average $2.36 per gallon, the third highest state average price. The lowest state-wide average gasoline prices in the nation are in Utah at $1.998 per gallon, followed by South Carolina at $2.055 per gallon.
Nationwide, the price of self-serve, midgrade gasoline averages $2.315 per gallon, a decrease from $2.461 per gallon in the middle of last month, and up from $1.981 one year ago. Self-serve premium averages $2.398 per gallon, down from $2.558 per gallon one month ago and up from $2.054 one year ago.
The national average prices for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline for AAA's mid-November survey for the last five years are: 2004, $1.866; 2003, $1.471; 2002, $1.378; 2001, $1.115; and 2000, $1.496.
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