This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Six months ago, Jerry Toler of Clearfield could brag to his brother living in Macon, Ga., that Utah's gasoline prices were among the lowest in the nation.
These days, Toler's bragging rights are a thing of the past, as Utah drivers are digging deeper to pay for gas than almost anywhere in the country.
"My brother called me up Monday evening and said he'd just filled up his tank for $2.29 a gallon," Toler said. "And he promised to use his [camera] phone to take a picture of the sign and send it to me."
Even though Utah's driving season is winding down - Utahns hit the highways a lot less after Labor Day - motorists in the state are paying gasoline prices more than 30 cents above the national average as prices head downward in other areas of the country.
"We're the fifth-highest among all the states," said Rolayne Fairclough, spokeswoman for AAA Utah. "And that's pretty unusual for Utah this time of year. Typically, prices are falling at a pretty good clip by now."
Exactly why Utah's gasoline prices remain so high is anyone's guess, although theories abound of price-gouging oil companies, retailers ripping off the motorists and greedy refinery operators stuffing their storage tanks full of money in exchange for gas.
Yet for most of this past summer, Utah's filling stations were posting prices that would have turned motorists in most other areas of the country green with gasoline-price envy.
"For whatever reason, summertime demand for gasoline [in Utah] was a little off this year and that helped keep prices down," said Lee Peacock of the Utah Petroleum Association, a trade group that represents the state's oil producers and refiners. "But lately, demand seems to be a little higher than normal."
Utah might have started the summer with abundant supplies, but more recently several of the state's refineries have suffered through some minor production setbacks that appear to have reduced gasoline inventories, said John Hill, state director for the Utah Petroleum Marketers and Retailers Association.
"They're catching back up now, though, so we should see prices starting to fall," he said.
The average price for a gallon of regular gas in Utah is $2.94, a 4-cent drop from mid-August but 4 cents higher than last year at this time, according to Fairclough at AAA Utah.
Consumers nationally are paying an average price of $2.61, 40 cents lower than last month and 36 cents lower than a year ago.
Fairclough pointed out that the price is higher in only four states: California, Hawaii, Idaho and Nevada.
California's average price is $2.96. Hawaii's motorists are paying $3.28 a gallon, while those in Idaho are paying $2.97. It costs drivers in Nevada an average of $2.96 a gallon to fill up their cars from the self-serve pumps.
Ohio's average price is the lowest in the country, at $2.31 a gallon.
"The drop in the national average price can be attributed to falling world oil prices, the end of the summer driving season and the slowing U.S. economy," Fairclough said. The benchmark price of petroleum has dropped to around $64 a barrel, the lowest price since March 27 and well below the record of $78.40 set July 14. Earlier in the driving season there were fears oil could hit $100 a barrel.
Fairclough added that the Atlantic hurricane season has been benign to this point, while unrest in the Middle East has been at a level that has helped ease speculation regarding oil supplies. All have contributed to lower prices nationally.
But in Utah cities surveyed by AAA Utah, the cost of regular self-serve gasoline has declined a lot less. Logan and Salt Lake City prices are down only 5 cents from last month. The price in Logan stands at $2.94, while in Salt Lake City the average price is $2.88 a gallon.
Moab's price dropped 4 cents from last month, to $2.97, AAA Utah said. Provo's average price is $2.93, down 3 cents from mid-August. The average price in St. George is $2.99, also down 3 cents for the month.
For Toler, such slight price decreases are puzzling. "I can understand about supply and demand driving prices, that Utah has a high gasoline tax, but it still is a little hard to understand how we could be paying 50 cents to 60 cents a gallon more than elsewhere in the country. To me, something doesn't seem right."