GAS PRICES UP SLIGHTLY FOR HOLIDAY

Gasoline prices under $1 are beginning to disappear.

The average price for a gallon of self-service regular unleaded gasoline in Missouri is $1.01 compared to $1 a year ago.

Motorists traveling over the Fourth of July holiday this weekend will pay slightly more for gasoline than they did during the 1999 holiday.

Cape Girardeau prices Thursday ranged form 95.9 to 99.9 for self-service regular unleaded, one of the few areas in the state where prices are still under $1.

As recently as two months ago, motorists were filling their tanks with the same fuel for 85.9 cents or less.

For higher powered cars, motorists have to dig deeper in their pockets. Local prices range from $1.09.9 to $1.19.9 for self-service premium unleaded, with one exception: One station in midtown had cars backed up on occasion Thursday, offering premium fuel at $1.01.9.

A survey by the AAA-Auto Club of Missouri found the average prices of gasoline climbing over the past few months.

Crude-oil prices have risen more than $7 per barrel in the past six months -- $3 a barrel over the past two weeks -- and gasoline prices have risen as much as nearly a quarter per gallon, said Mike Right, spokesman for AAA, which keeps tabs on state and national gasoline prices.

AAA shows the national average for self-service regular unleaded gasoline is currently $1.14 per gallon, up from last year's $1.11.

Statewide, the average price for self-service regular unleaded is $1.01, actually down a penny from two weeks ago. But prices in Kansas City are up 12 cents per gallon over last year, at $1.09. In St. Louis the price per gallon is about $1.07.

Prices are lower throughout Southeast Missouri, where they range from 95.9 to 99.9 in Cape Girardeau, about 97.9 in Poplar Bluff and Sikeston, $1.00 at Dexter and $1.03 at Doniphan.

Missourians driving to other parts of the country can expect to pay much higher prices -- as much as 35 cents more in California and 13 to 15 cents per gallon to the north.

Regional prices, said Right, show that self-service regular unleaded averages about $1.30 in California, $1.15 in New England, $1.25 in the Great Lakes area, and $1.12 in the Southwest. Only the Southeast, with an average price of $1.05, was cheaper than the Midwest, at $1.09.

Right said AAA estimates that 37.4 million Americans will hit the roads this weekend for a trip of 100 miles or more form home. Traditionally, the Independence Day period is the busiest summer holiday for travel.

Of those traveling, 32.4 million are expected to go by auto, light truck or recreational vehicle. Another 5 million will travel by airline, train or bus.