Gasoline prices may have peaked

Gasoline prices appear to have peaked, perhaps for the year.

The AAA said regular gasoline averaged $4.128 a gallon in Nassau and Suffolk Wednesday morning, down 3.5 cents from a week earlier -- though still about 60 cents higher than the recent low point on Dec. 26.

Factors cited in the decrease include a softening of crude oil prices and easing of concerns about shortages in the Northeast this summer. Prices have slipped nationally as well, to an average of $3.84 Wednesday for regular, down 5.9 cents from a week earlier, the AAA said.

"I think we might have seen the peak," said Andy Lipow, president of the Houston consulting company Lipow Oil Associates Llc. Prices often peak in the spring, then decline for the rest of the year. The Long Island average for regular peaked last year on May 12 -- at $4.284 for regular, then fell almost steadily to a low of $3.541 on Dec. 26. The record Long Island average for regular in the AAA survey is $4.346, set July 8, 2008.

Assuming prices don't turn upward again during the upcoming driving season or in the fall, the Long Island peak average for this year would be $4.169, recorded on April 10, according to the AAA.

In the Northeast, Lipow said, concerns about gasoline shortages this summer have eased on a statement by Sunoco that it will keep its Philadelphia refinery operating at least through July as it seeks a buyer for it; and reports of at least five bidders, including Delta Air Lines, to buy and restart ConocoPhillips' idle refinery in Trainer, Pa. Another Sunoco refinery, in Marcus Hook, Pa., was shut down last year, while yet another serving the Northeast, co-owned by Hess in St. Croix, was shut down in February.

Further, Lipow said, refineries worldwide have completed seasonal maintenance and are producing larger quantities of gasoline.

U.S. benchmark crude oil had risen from a recent low in early February of $96.36 a barrel to as high as $109.77, on Feb. 24.

Crude oil futures fell in New York trading early Wednesday after a U.S. government report showed higher inventories in this country, and Iran's envoy in Moscow said his country is considering a Russian proposal to halt the expansion of its nuclear program. However, oil ended the day up 57 cents at $104.12 after Federal Reserve policy-makers said they expect growth to accelerate gradually and held off on more steps to boost the economy.

The U.S. Department of Energy said on April 10 that gasoline prices either had or were about to peak for this driving season.

With Bloomberg