Sun Dec 6, 2009 10:20pm GMT
By Deepa Seetharaman
NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices fell 1.24 cents per gallon in the last two weeks, the smallest change in prices during a two-week period since late August, according to the latest Lundberg survey.
The national average price for regular grade gasoline was $2.6353 a gallon as of Dec. 4, according to the nationwide survey of about 5,000 service stations.
A rise in the cost of ethanol, which is blended with gasoline, and the weaker dollar partially offset a drop in crude oil prices over the past two weeks, survey editor Trilby Lundberg said.
Lundberg said gasoline prices will either level off or decline further, provided crude oil prices remain stable.
"It will all be up to the gasoline glut," Lundberg said. "Will it shrink? Or will it grow as the economy continues to languish?"
Surging U.S. unemployment has hobbled demand for gasoline and U.S. refiners have shut down more than one-fifth of their total capacity as a result, Lundberg said.
The vast majority of gasoline demand comes from those who commute to work, but 10 percent unemployment in the United States has ravaged this demand source, she added.
Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN0614205220091206
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