US Gasoline Prices Dip For First Time In More Than Two Months -Survey

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The average price of regular grade gasoline fell by nearly 2 cents over the last two weeks, the first nationwide price decline at the pumps after more than two months of steady increases, according to the Lundberg survey released on Sunday.

Drivers paid an average of $2.85 a gallon, 86 cents below the average price paid at this time last year. Strong U.S. gas supplies and steady crude oil prices point to likely further declines in the coming weeks, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the survey.

"In the absence of any significant rise in crude oil prices, which have been quite stable over more than two months, the flush supply and high refining capacity utilization in the U.S. has offset the impact of our robustly growing gasoline demand," she said.

The lowest average-price gasoline in the survey of cities in the lower 48 states was found in Jackson, Mississippi, at $2.44 a gallon. The most expensive was San Diego, at $3.52 a gallon.