Gas prices leveling off in Nevada; West Coast sees downward trend

Scott Sonner

Tuesday, April 4, 2000 | 5:18 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Gas prices in Nevada and throughout the West Coast are on a slow downward trend after peaking two weeks ago, but another run toward $2 a gallon is likely before the end of summer.

"We don't know how long this downward trend is going to last. It could be a few weeks or a couple of months," said Paul Moreno, spokesman for the American Automobile Association's Nevada branch.

"Eventually, the increased demand we see in spring and all summer-long is going to collide with other market forces," he said.

A special spot check Tuesday in Nevada, California and Utah found prices at the pumps generally have leveled off and should continue to decline, Moreno said.

The highest average prices for a gallon of regular, unleaded self-serve were:

San Francisco, $1.94; San Jose, $1.88; Oakland, $1.87; and Las Vegas, Reno and Monterey, Calif., $1.86.

AAA officials typically conduct gas-price surveys nationally at the middle of each month. They conducted an extra survey Tuesday to get an early glimpse of the response to the OPEC ministers agreement last week to boost oil production.

"Prices were still charging up quickly as of three weeks ago," Moreno said.

"They peaked in most of the West Coast about two weeks ago, but they have come down very slowly. Overall, they're down about 2 cents," he said.

In fact, the $1.86 average in Las Vegas was 13 cents higher than the March gas survey. Reno was unchanged from the $1.86 in March.

But Moreno said those figures were deceiving because the March gas survey missed the actual peak in March when prices approaching $2 were common.

"We know prices in Nevada are down from then," he said. "As far as the West Coast is concerned, we are on a downward trend, albeit slight."

The lower oil prices combined with increased West Coast refinery production are responsible for the downward movement, he said.

Alan Kovski, an energy analyst with the Kiplinger Letter in Washington, warned that the outlook for the next few months is "really uncertain" because of low inventories.

"The lower the inventories, the more we have to worry about spikes in gas prices," he said.

Although AAA Nevada typically surveys a number of cities across the state, the special survey on Tuesday included only Reno and Las Vegas in Nevada.