Carson has lowest gas prices in AAA survey

Carson drivers are enjoying gas prices a dime lower than in Reno and 3 cents cheaper than the national average, according to AAA Nevada's monthly survey.

The auto club's Tuesday survey showed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular in Carson was $1.61, compared with $1.71 in Reno and $1.64 nationally.

The survey's average for Nevada was $1.65, while Northern California's was $1.71.

In Carson City, where the Eagle Gas and Gas and Save stations are charging $1.53.9 a gallon, owner Mohammed Ahmad said he was holding his own even though the wholesale price was up.

''Last Friday we thought they might go down, and they went up. Last night we thought maybe they would go down, and there was no change. We hope for the price to go down but it's an unstable market,'' he said.

The slight drop in Western gas prices came even as drivers in the Midwest faced sharply higher fuel costs.

"While major cities in the upper Midwest have seen prices averaging well over $2 a gallon, West Coast prices have remained flat or down in the past month," said AAA Nevada spokesman Paul Moreno. "But summer demand and higher oil prices are already starting to push up retail prices in some West Coast cities."

Since June 1, several U.S. cities are required to use a new blend of cleaner-burning fuel. But production and distribution problems are being blamed for tight supplies and skyrocketing retail prices in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and several other cities primarily in the Upper Midwest, say analysts.

However, the turmoil is not affecting the West Coast gas and oil markets because they are isolated from those east of the Rocky Mountains. Nationwide, prices average $1.64 - up 15 cents in one month. Chicago has the nation's most expensive gasoline at $2.13 for a self-serve gallon of regular unleaded.

West coast prices are not expected to go much higher this summer, say analysts.

"There's been a slight upward trend in West Coast wholesale (gasoline) prices," said Alan Kovski, energy analyst with the Kiplinger Washington Letter. "I would expect gasoline prices to go up a bit. Not a whole lot, but some."

Even as AAA Nevada was forecasting price stability, the San Francisco Chronicle reported a problem at a major Bay Area refiner that could press western gas prices higher, the Associated Press reported.

A top Tosco Refining Co. executive says he will shut down the company's Martinez refinery by July 1 if state agencies enforce new dioxin discharge limits.

Tosco President Dwight Wiggins told the Chronicle for a story Tuesday that the company cannot meet stricter rules for dioxin in the refinery's waste water, which are due to take effect next month.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board will hear Tosco's request to modify its permit at a meeting Wednesday in Oakland.

A shutdown of the plant during the peak summer driving season would likely impact prices at California pumps. Tosco supplies nearly 20 percent of the state's diesel fuel and 5 percent of its gasoline. Gas prices soared last year following an explosion at the refinery that shut down the plant for four months.

Tuesday prices for Unleaded Regular Gas

Date April 4 April 18 May 16 June 20

Bob's Texaco 705 N. Carson 1.86 1.78 1.70 1.68

Carson City Shell 1600 N. Carson 1.89 1.80 1.70 1.70

Gas and Save 1360 South Carson 1.60 1.56 1.50 1.54

Short Stop Market 1321 N. Carson 1.87 1.80 1.58 1.56

AM-PM 720 S. Carson 1.72 1.66 1.56 1.56

AM-PM 1017 N. Carson X 1.66 1.58 1.56

AM-PM 4340 N. Carson 1.70 1.62 1.56 1.56

Seven-Eleven 3838 Hwy. 50 East 1.80 1.73 1.70 1.62

Seven-Eleven 3701 N. Carson 1.73 1.70 1.60 1.59

Winner's Corner 1400 Rand Ave. 1.82 1.80 1.70 1.70

Average price 1.77 1.71 1.62 1.61