Gasoline Prices Keep Spurting Higher

High crude oil prices pumped up the average price of regular unleaded self-service gasoline by about 5 cents a gallon nationwide and about 4 cents a gallon in California, the Energy Information Administration reported. The average U.S. price, based on a weekly survey of 800 service stations, was $1.41 per gallon, the highest since the EIA began keeping statistics in 1990. The California average of $1.44 per gallon was about 33 cents above the price a year ago, but well below last year’s peak of $1.62 in mid-April. A series of refinery accidents in California early last year boosted the price of the state’s unique cleaner-burning gasoline.