AAA Texas: Weekend Gas Watch; Prices Down, But Head Up in Path of Hurricane Rita
HOUSTON--Sept. 23, 2005--Gas prices plummeted around the state over the past week, but ticked upward over the last two days in areas that are being evacuated in advance of Hurricane Rita's landfall, according to AAA Texas' Weekend Gas Watch.The statewide average price for regular self-serve dropped to $2.667 a gallon -- down 14.8 cents after another 12-cent decrease last week. Although gas prices in Beaumont, Houston and Galveston are lower than last week, they are starting to go up again this week as evacuation orders pushed up demand.
"Gulf Coast refineries are once again being shuttered temporarily because of the storm, and those closures will likely cause gas prices statewide to head upward again, but we don't yet know how big the impact will be," said Carol Thorp, spokesperson for AAA Texas.
The national average for regular self-serve gasoline is $2.915 a gallon -- a weekly drop decrease of 11.5 cents.
AAA Texas' Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline at popular destinations for automobile trips.
Average Daily Prices as of 12:01 A.M., September 23, 2005: Area Weekly Weekly Record 2004 9/23/05 Change 9/16/05 Change 9/9/05 High Average ---------------------------------------------------------------------- National $2.755 -16.0 $2.915 -11.5 $3.030 $3.057 $1.837 cents cents (9/5/05) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- State $2.667 -14.8 $2.815 -12.4 $2.939 $2.964 $1.741 cents cents (9/4/05) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Austin-San $2.649 -16.6 $2.815 -8.7 $2.902 $2.918 $1.713 Marcos cents cents (9/6/05) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Beaumont $2.640 -13.3 $2.773 -11.6 $2.889 $2.930 $1.709 cents cents (9/4/05) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Corpus $2.560 -20.0 $2.760 -6.7 $2.827 $2.929 $1.668 Christi cents cents (9/3/05) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dallas $2.706 -15.4 $2.860 -13.4 $2.994 $3.019 $1.758 cents cents (9/4/05) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ft. Worth $2.687 -14.3 $2.830 -14.7 $2.977 $3.012 $1.738 cents cents (9/4/05) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Galveston/ $2.785 -8.5 $2.870 -9.7 $2.967 $2.997 $1.734 Texas City cents cents (9/4/05) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Houston $2.730 -12.6 $2.856 -9.9 $2.955 $2.971 $1.722 cents cents (9/6/05) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- San Antonio $2.580 -19.0 $2.770 -11.0 $2.880 $2.909 $1.681 cents cents (9/4/05) ----------------------------------------------------------------------