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U.S. Gasoline Pump Price Hits Record $3.057, AAA Says (Update1)

*Should I be happy that the highest average pump prices is right around me?...

U.S. Gasoline Pump Price Hits Record $3.057, AAA Says

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The average U.S. pump price for regular-grade gasoline rose to a record $3.057 a gallon on Sept. 2, according to the AAA, after Hurricane Katrina idled 10 percent of the nation's refining capacity last week.

Friday's average nationwide price gained 19 cents from the previous day and was up 65 percent from $1.849 a year ago, the nation's largest motoring organization said in its daily fuel- gauge report, posted on its Web site.

Refinery shutdowns along the Gulf of Mexico coast have caused scattered gasoline shortages in parts of the U.S. The highest average pump price on Sept. 2 was in Maryland, where it reached $3.26 a gallon, followed by Washington D.C., the nation's capital, where it was $3.258.

``If motorists can cut back a little bit, the whole country doesn't have to be burdened with shortages,' Dan Gilligan, president of the Arlington, Virginia-based Petroleum Marketers Association of America, which represents 8,000 U.S. marketers, said on Sept. 2. ``Instead of going 200 miles, it would be better if they went 50 miles.'

U.S. state officials warned retailers not to overcharge and the Environmental Protection Agency has temporarily waived some anti-pollution requirements to allow lower quality gasoline to be sold in various regions. Georgia waived taxes on gasoline through the end of the month to help keep retail prices in check and one Oklahoma lawmaker is pressing for similar steps.

A return road trip from New York City to the Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida, would rack up $482 in fuel costs, using a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe, a typical sport utility vehicle, according to a fuel calculator on the AAA website. The two-way trip covers 2,166 miles, and uses 155 gallons.

``Only about 40 percent of petroleum goes into passenger cars,' Alan Reynolds, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, said in an interview on Sept. 2. ``Most of it goes for business transportation or important industrial products like plastics or petrochemicals.'

The cheapest U.S. state in which to buy regular gasoline was Alaska, where a gallon fetched $2.735 on Friday, according to the AAA, which surveys credit card transactions at 60,000 self-serve stations.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Alejandro Barbajosa in London at [e-mail]
Stephen Voss in London at [e-mail]


LINK: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aeT_w4Bej3ec&refer=us