Gas hits fresh record before July 4 holiday
Thursday July 3, 6:46 am ET
Retail gas prices rose overnight to a record high for the fourth day in a
row, ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend - one of the nation's busiest
weekends for travel.
The national average price for a gallon of regular gas rose to an all-time
high of $4.098 from $4.092 the day before, a daily survey by motorist
group
AAA showed Thursday.
Gas prices are now 3% higher than they were last month and nearly 39%
higher, or almost $1.15 more, than year-ago levels.
Alaska has the highest gas prices in the nation. Drivers in the state pay
an
average of $4.689 a gallon for regular gas. California and Hawaii have the
second and third-highest average gas prices, at $4.574 and $4.441,
respectively.
The state with the lowest gas prices is Oklahoma, where a gallon of gas
averages $3.885.
The survey also showed that the national average price for diesel fuel
held
steady at $4.767 a gallon.
Record high gas prices have pinched consumers and forced many Americans to
cut back on the amount of driving they do.
Thirty-one percent of Americans have canceled or shortened their planned
holiday weekend vacation because of rising gas prices, according to a
CNN/Opinion Research poll released Wednesday.
And last week, AAA said it expects the number of Americans traveling
during
the July 4 holiday weekend will fall 1.3% to 40.45 million from the 41
million who traveled last year.
Meanwhile, the price for a barrel of oil also rose to a new high, crossing
$145 a barrel in electronic trading Thursday.
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