Falling for the third straight week, the U.S. average price for regular gasoline dropped one cent to settle at $2.61 per gallon. The average price on the West Coast regained the penny it had lost the previous week, making it the only major region to post a price gain, settling at $2.96 per gallon. The average price in California rose about a penny to $3.04 per gallon. 
     The national average price for diesel went up for the sixth consecutive week to $2.67 per gallon. Despite a cumulative increase over the past six weeks of 18 cents, the average price was $1.45 below the price last year. On the West Coast, the price increased almost two cents to $2.80 per gallon, and in California the average moved up a penny to $2.89 per gallon.
     Oil prices rose today after two days of decline.  The American Petroleum Institute said in a report yesterday that crude supplies dropped by 3.19 million barrels last week. Sentiment has been riding high over the last few months on hopes the economy is turning around.  The drop in supply is bolstering optimism that fuel demand is in fact rebounding.
     U.S. crude oil production is expected to rise this year for the first time in nearly two decades.  The new production coming online is mostly from offshore projects in the Gulf of Mexico and so far this year the Atlantic hurricane season has been mild.   The new production is a step in the right direction to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  Unfortunately, we have a long way to go to eliminate imports.
  
Dave Jackson 
Director of Commercial Fueling
NELLA Oil Company