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Gas Prices Continue Eight-Month Free Fall, Says AAA

20 January 1999

Gas Prices Continue Eight-Month Free Fall, Says AAA; Lowest Pump Prices in Nearly Five Years

    SAN FRANCISCO--Jan. 19, 1999--Regional gas prices sank to a five-year low as the worldwide oil glut spilled over into the new year, AAA of Northern California reported today.
    Gas prices in Northern California averaged $1.15 for a self-serve gallon of regular unleaded, down a penny in one month and 22 cents in one year, according to AAA's monthly gas survey.
    "Gas prices in Northern California haven't been this low since March 1994, when the regional average also was $1.15," said AAA spokesman Paul Moreno. "Pump prices continued an eight-month decline due to less driving in winter and high inventories of gas and crude oil."
    The San Francisco Bay Area average also fell a penny to $1.19, and is 21 cents higher than the national average of 98 cents, according to AAA.
    A year-long global oversupply of oil has brought down crude prices, causing lower gas prices throughout the country. Demand is lower because of weak economic conditions in parts of the world. Oil supplies are high from overproduction, analysts say.
    "There's nothing on the horizon to drive oil prices significantly upward," said Alan Kovski of The Oil Daily, a Washington D.C.-based newsletter. Not even recent military conflicts in the Persian Gulf stirred much reaction among oil traders, Kovski said.
    "The oil markets get used to these tensions," Kovski said. "Markets get dull when traders realize these things don't cause much of a disruption of oil."
    In Northern California, local averages for regular unleaded self-serve gasoline (since Dec. 15) are:

Chico, $1.05 (down 3 cents)
Eureka, $1.21 (down 2 cents)
Lake Tahoe, $1.18 (down 2 cents)
Monterey, $1.20 (down 3 cents)
Redding, $1.12 (down a penny)
Salinas, $1.16 (down a penny)
San Jose, $1.14 (down a penny)
San Rafael, $1.18 (down a penny)
Santa Rosa, $1.12 (down a penny)
Concord, $1.11 (unchanged)
Fresno, $1.05 (down a nickel)
Modesto, $1.01 (down 2 cents)
Oakland, $1.21 (unchanged)
Sacramento, $1.03 (down a nickel)
San Francisco, $1.26 (down 3 cents)
San Mateo, $1.23 (unchanged)
Santa Cruz, $1.15 (down 4 cents)
Stockton, $1.08 (up a penny)

    Since last month, Nevada gas prices are down 2 cents to $1.12 a gallon. In Utah, prices are down 8 cents to 96 cents a gallon in the same period, according to AAA's survey of more than 400 gas stations in Northern California, Nevada and Utah.
    Established more than 90 years ago, the AAA affiliate of Northern California, Nevada and Utah offers a wide array of automotive, insurance, travel and financial services. It is the second largest regional affiliate of the national AAA organization.

NOTE TO EDITORS: A chart showing 12 months of city averages is available. Additional city averages, including Southern California cities, are available on request.