Los Angeles gas prices fall for 16th day in a row, likely to keep dropping: LIPA
LAS VEGAS, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Gasoline and natural gas prices across the United States fell for a 16th straight day on Wednesday after falling by about 5 percent in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. government data and industry sources.
The drop comes as a record number of drivers are still without power in much of the country, a week after Hurricane Sandy ravaged much of the East Coast and knocked out power for thousands of customers.
Truck drivers and others who take to the roads in the aftermath of a natural disaster are responsible for a disproportionate share of the cost of natural disasters like hurricanes.
“What we’re seeing is some of the more severe weather we’ve had lately is driving up demand for fuel and driving down prices,” said Peter Seggerman, senior petroleum analyst for Gasbuddy.com, an industry website. “These things take a while to play out, so at least this week we’ll be seeing prices drop more.”
The largest daily drop in prices occurred in the Midwest on Wednesday, where prices fell 5.7 percent to a 10-year low of $2.81 a gallon for regular diesel fuel and $2.80 for the more-cheap fuel of compressed natural gas. The price sank to an 11-year low of $2.78 a gallon for natural gas and diesel.
Gasoline prices fell 6.3 percent to a nine-year low of $2.76 a gallon in the West, where the highest weekly average price fell to an 11-year low of $2.74 a gallon for regular diesel and $2.77 for the cheaper gas from CNG.
“The gas price data are going to continue falling in the weeks that follow after the storm hits the East Coast, after the storm hits,” Seggerman said.
He also said the price decline in the West likely would continue, although the price could rise more quickly if oil prices continue to fall, as they have been the past few weeks.
The price drop in the Midwest and West on Wednesday was offset somewhat by a 5
