Average gasoline price dips below $2 in LV

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 | 10:42 a.m.

Motorists should be able to save a few bucks this month as gasoline prices are down just in time for Christmas shopping and holiday travel.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Nevada is $2.02, which is 18 cents less than last month, according to AAA Nevada, which tracks gasoline prices as a customer service.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Las Vegas is now below the $2 mark at $1.98, AAA Nevada spokesman Michael Geeser said.

That's a 21-cent drop from AAA's last survey on Nov. 17, he said.

The national average is $1.84 for a gallon of regular unleaded. The most expensive gasoline is in Wailuku, Hawaii, where a gallon of regular unleaded costs an average of $2.69. The least expensive is found in Toledo, Ohio, where a gallon goes for $1.56.

Reno is at $2.01 a gallon, down 16 cents since November.

The lowest price in Nevada is Carson City, where a gallon of regular unleaded costs an average of $1.94. The most expensive gasoline is in Henderson, where the average price is $2.02 a gallon.

In Elko, North Las Vegas and Sparks the average has also dropped below $2.

The sharp decline in retail prices followed a dramatic $10 drop in the price of crude oil since early December, Geeser said. The price of oil has fallen more than $50 per barrel to $1 per barrel.

But, Geeser added, "Oil prices may not drop any further, since OPEC members agreed to cut production by a million barrels a day."

Oil inventories have continued to build across the country, Geeser said. The Eastern states have experienced a mild winter so far, with less demand for heating oil, which allowed the inventories to rise, he said.

OPEC is scheduled to meet again at the end of January to review the market.

As far as gasoline prices affecting tourism, Geeser said there was no indication that people changed their travel patterns. In fact, people seemed to travel more this year.

"That would indicate to us gas prices had no effect on people traveling," Geeser said. "We are so dependent on cars, it would have to go up astronomically."

Another study confirmed that assessment.

California visitors haven't cut many trips this year to Las Vegas, despite the higher gasoline prices, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority researcher John Piet said.

In fact, visitors driving in from California have increased 2 percent overall for the year to date, Piet said.

"In general, October was the best month on record for visitors coming to Las Vegas," Piet said. There were 34,524 motorists in October, 100 more than a year ago.

Las Vegas gasoline prices are higher than most of the nation for three reasons, said Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Gasoline has to be imported; there is little competition between companies delivering it; and the state imposes higher gasoline taxes.

"We try to allow visitors to pay through gas taxes," Schwer said, "but those of us who live here end up paying for it, too."

And for many drivers, the months of high prices has made them so numb to the pain of paying for pumping that they haven't really paid attention to the recent decrease. Their threshold appears to have moved up.

Kathy Jenkins, for example, uses up gasoline driving her children to school every day. She said she hadn't noticed the recent price changes.

"I don't mind it now," Jenkins said. But if gasoline prices soar to $5 a gallon "that would be too much."