U.S. Gasoline Price Barely Moves in Two Weeks

The average price of gasoline in the United States fell half a cent in the past two weeks as crude oil prices rose, allowing refiners and retailers to stop cutting prices, according to a Lundberg survey released on Sunday.

Regular grade gasoline fell to $2.34 per gallon in the Oct. 9 survey from the upwardly rounded $2.35 on Sept. 25, when the previous survey was taken. The price had tumbled 52 cents since June 12 over 17 weeks.

Compared with one year ago, the $2.34 average price was 91-1/2 half cents a gallon lower.

The slowing decline came as crude oil prices strengthened in recent weeks, survey publisher Trilby Lundberg said.

"It essentially means an end to a long price slide," said Lundberg.

The modest rise in oil prices has halted wholesale price cutting from refiners and has "worked its way down to retailers through the various distributors who, receiving those hikes at varying times around the country recently, caused them to stop cutting prices on the street," she said.

The lowest average price per gallon in the lower 48 states was in Charleston, South Carolina, at $1.92, and the highest in Los Angeles, at $2.96.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)