Gasoline price higher in West

By James R. Healey and Barbara Hansen
USA Today

Gasoline costs more in the West than the East, but drivers such as Cyndi Burrough, of Arleta, Calif., still have something to celebrate. Prices fell more than 8 cents per gallon in the past three weeks. To Burrough, "those good ol' days are back." Associated Press

Honolulu often has the priciest U.S. gasoline. Last week, that was an average $1.731 a gallon for unleaded regular, according to data provided by Wright Express, which tracks transactions at more than 85,000 service stations daily, or more than half the country's gas stations.

On the Mainland, San Francisco is king of high fuel prices, averaging $1.606 last week.

"I was shocked when I got here and saw $1.55," said visiting college student Kellie Applen, 27, buying gas at a San Francisco Texaco. Back home in Columbia, Mo., she pays 98 cents. Columbia's average last week: 99.2 cents.

In contrast, the South is home to 24 of the 30 metro areas with the cheapest gas. The average price around Albany, Ga., was 86.4 cents a gallon. Prices outside Atlanta were as low as 75.9 cents recently.

The U.S. average was $1.122 a gallon yesterday, according to AAA, which also uses Wright data.

A lack of competition is one reason why gas prices in the West tend to be high. California, for instance, has less than half the 14,000 service stations it had a decade ago, and half the number of big gasoline sellers — six versus 12 a decade ago, said Will Woods, executive director of the Automotive Trade Organizations of California.

The 1990s merger of Unocal and Tosco boosted prices in "13 West Coast metropolitan areas," according to research by economists Justine Hastings and Richard Gilbert.

In addition, Woods noted that a major fuel depot supplying discounted gas to California independent stations was bought by a big oil company in 1996, reducing the number of independents.

Besides a lack of competition, the West also has a lack of pipelines, which are the cheapest way to move gasoline, according to Michael Dubyak, chief executive officer of Wright Express. Fuel typically is hauled in the West via truck and rail, which is considerably more expensive.

However, Dubyak noted, "no one's going to build a pipeline across the Rockies."