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Talk of the Town

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BREAKING 6-8-08 AAA: $4 a Gallon Gasoline Sets Record in U.S. - Oil Closes @ $138 a Barrel
Sunday, Jun 08, 2008 3:21pm

NEW YORK, NY From CNN (By: Tom Pace, Talk of the Town) BREAKING 6-8-08 Forget "sticker-shock," Americans are in "gasoline shock." For the first-time-ever in the history of the United States, the average price for a gallon of gasoline hit the $4 mark Sunday, June 8th, 2008, according to the AAA motor club.

According to CNN, in a second survey, the average price came within 0.2 cent of $4 a gallon in the Lundberg Survey, which showed a 20-cent rise in the past three weeks to a new record.

The national average for regular unleaded rose 1.7 cents to $4.005, according the daily measure on the AAA's Web site. That surpassed the previous record of $3.989 set Thursday.

The milestone was expected after a surge in crude oil prices added more than $16 to a barrel of oil over the last 2 trading days. Crude settled at a record $138.54 a barrel Friday, up by $10.75, after setting an all-time intraday high of $139.12.

The $10.75 gain was the biggest one-day advance in dollar value ever, nearly doubling the previous mark of $5.49 set Thursday. Weakness in the dollar, geopolitical concerns and an analyst's prediction of $150-a-barrel oil by July 4 helped spur Friday's advance.

In a statement Friday, AAA urged gasoline station owners not to overreact to the single-day oil spike.

"Consumers should not be overcharged for gasoline simply because the oil markets reacted so strongly to today's news," AAA said.

So far this year, crude prices have increased more than 40%.

The average price is $4 a gallon or more in 14 states and the District of Columbia, according to the survey. California pays the most for gasoline, averaging $4.436, with Alaska and Connecticut both at $4.296. Other states above $4 are Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and West Virginia.

Missouri has the lowest average price at $3.802, followed by South Carolina at $3.809.

Gas prices have risen more than 10% from $3.671 a month ago and are nearly 29% higher than the $3.105 average a year ago, according to the AAA figures.

Gasoline prices in the survey have risen for 31 of the past 33 days, setting records on 29 of those days.