Western gas prices drive average to near-record level

CAMARILLO, Calif. -- Gasoline supply problems in California contributed to a 5-cent-per-gallon increase in the national average over the past two weeks, an industry analyst said.

The average weighted price for gas, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.75 per gallon Friday, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide. That is within 2 cents of $1.77, the all-time high recorded by the survey on May 18, 2001.

But not all consumers were paying that much; some parts of the country enjoyed stability while California's pump prices jumped almost 14 cents from Feb. 21 to March 7.

"The increase of just over a nickel in the U.S. average is nearly entirely due to California refineries switching over to corn-based additives," Trilby Lundberg said.