May 24, 2004 9:00 AM, EDT

Lundberg Survey Finds Gasoline Prices Up Another 14 Cents

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he average retail price for regular gasoline rose 14 cents in the past two weeks to a record $2.07 a gallon as of Friday, according to the Lundberg survey of 8,000 stations nationwide.

The trucking industry burns an estimated 269 million gallons of gasoline each week.

Analyst Trilby Lundberg said the rise was caused by increased demand created by market pressures and seasonal environmental regulations requiring a move to costlier formulas, the Associated Press reported.

And in an interview with Bloomberg, Lundberg said prices may not decline until after August.

However, the record gasoline prices have yet to slow demand from motorists, the Energy Department said. Demand so far this year averaged 8.913 million barrels a day, up 3% from a year earlier.

The national weighted average price of gasoline at self-serve pumps on Friday, including taxes, was about $2.07 for regular, $2.17 for mid-grade, and $2.26 for premium.

The survey found San Diego had the highest price for regular gasoline at $2.36 a gallon, while the fuel was cheapest in Charleston, S.C., at $1.87 per gallon.