Record Gasoline Prices Seen Declining, Lundberg Reports

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etail regular self-serve gasoline prices rose to a record $3.01 a gallon over the two-week period ended Friday, but prices could be on the way down, according to the latest Lundberg survey released Sunday.

Analyst and survey author Trilby Lundberg told Bloomberg that wholesale prices were in decline and that retail pump prices would follow downward soon.

"Wholesale gasoline prices are crashing," she told CNBC Monday.



According to the survey, midgrade was about $3.11, while premium-grade was nearly $3.21 a gallon. The Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations around the country is released twice a month.

The spike occurred despite declines in the cost of crude oil in the past two weeks since Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29.

The hurricane decimated refineries along the Gulf Coast, cutting 11% of the nation's refining capacity and shutting down essential pipelines to the East Coast and elsewhere, Lundberg said.

The lowest price for self-serve regular gasoline was in Jackson, Miss., at $2.61 a gallon, Lundberg said. The highest was on New York's Long Island, at $3.35.