The cost appears to be on the decline, at least for now.

A gallon of unleaded regular gasoline in Utah is going for an average price of $3.14, the sixth-highest price in the country, according to AAA Utah. Yet that is down 13 cents from a month ago, and in some locations Utah motorists are filling up for as little as $2.91 a gallon.

"We are in somewhat of an unusual situation because gasoline prices usually rise in anticipation of increasing demand that typically occurs around a major holiday," said Rolayne Fairclough, spokeswoman for AAA Utah.

She speculates that many of the production problems that have plagued some of the nation's refineries in recent months may finally have been remedied - leading, at least temporarily, to an increase in supply that has helped ease pressure on prices.

The U.S. Energy Department in Washington noted in a report last week that gasoline prices dropped nationwide as inventories increased for seven consecutive weeks before falling slightly in the week ended June 22. Changes in prices typically lag behind changes in inventories.

Pump prices decreased in all regions of the country over the past week as the average price fell 2.3 cents, to $2.95 - still 2.5 cents ahead of the same week in 2006.

The Energy Department reported that prices dropped the most in the Rocky Mountain region, where gasoline declined 4.1 cents, to an average of $3.10 a gallon.

And that price for the Rocky Mountain states isn't much different from the average $3.08 a gallon that motorists in the Salt Lake City-Ogden area are paying at most of the pumps they're visiting.

"I've noticed that prices have come down a bit, but they probably should be a lot lower," said Charilla McGeorge, of Salt Lake City, who recently began using a TN'G scooter. "I think the oil companies are just messing with us, letting the price come down so everyone can get excited that the cost has dropped a couple of cents a gallon."

At their current levels, gasoline prices are not expected to keep people from traveling over the extended Fourth of July holiday, "but it may reduce some of their spending while traveling," said Bruce Bossman, director of sales and marketing for Xanterra South Rim LLC, which manages lodgings inside Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park. "Some discretionary spending may suffer a bit."

Even with rising gasoline inventories, though, there still could be problems down the road.

Joseph Stanislaw, senior energy adviser for Deloitte & Touche in Boston, said that if hurricanes disrupt refineries and pipelines, it may cause gasoline nationally to top the record set last month, when prices averaged $3.23 cents a gallon.

He expects prices to rise to about $3.50 a gallon this summer and possibly exceed $4 a gallon if a hurricane strikes the U.S. Gulf Coast, the most important region for the nation's oil production, imports and refining.

---

* THE LOS ANGELES TIMES AND BLOOMBERG NEWS contributed to this report.