AAA Texas: Average Gasoline Price Significantly Higher Than A Year Ago

    HOUSTON--Nov. 12, 2002--The statewide average price of regular self-serve fuel is 28 cents higher than one year ago, when the country was still reeling from the effects of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th.
    The current Texas average price for self-serve regular is $1.38 a gallon. A year ago the average price was $1.09 a gallon.
    The nationwide average price is $1.46, about 25 cents higher than last Thanksgiving.
    Crude oil prices by themselves do not explain the higher price of gasoline throughout the United States, according to AAA Texas. The price of crude oil has recently declined from near $30 per barrel to less than $27 per barrel.
    "Instead, the current prices may be attributed to reduced inventories of gasoline compared to a year ago, plus reluctance by gasoline retailers to lower prices in the face of a potential war with Iraq," said Rose Rougeau, spokesperson for AAA Texas.
    AAA's Fuel Gauge Report is based on data from the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) -- the nation's most comprehensive source of petroleum pricing information.
    AAA Texas, an affiliate of AAA, has been serving Texans since 1902. Today, more than a million AAA Texas' members benefit from the organization's roadside assistance service, travel agency, financial products, automotive pricing, buying and financing, trip planning services, and traffic safety programs. Information about these products and services is available on AAA Texas' Web site at www.aaa-texas.com.

                  AAA Texas Monthly Fuel Gauge Report
           (Average price for a gallon of regular self-serve
                     in 17 selected Texas cities)

Metro               State       Nov. '02        Nov. '01      Oct. '02
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Abilene             TX           1.407           1.099         1.405
Amarillo            TX           1.386           1.077         1.446
Austin              TX           1.342           1.065         1.365
Beaumont            TX           1.380           1.068         1.377
Brownsville         TX           1.316           1.000         1.344
Corpus Christi      TX           1.328           1.010         1.373
Dallas              TX           1.408           1.139         1.395
El Paso             TX           1.433           1.167         1.376
Fort Worth          TX           1.384           1.143         1.383
Houston             TX           1.392           1.107         1.379
Laredo              TX           1.364           1.247         1.379
Longview            TX           1.371           1.138         1.388
Lubbock             TX           1.393           1.036         1.404
Midland             TX           1.422           1.081         1.426
Odessa              TX           1.381           1.050         1.385
San Antonio         TX           1.346           0.998         1.368
Waco                TX           1.355           1.053         1.349
Average             TX           1.377           1.087         1.385

                     (Nov. '02)         (Nov. '01)
                    -----------        ------------
National               $1.46              $1.21          down .25

Texas                  $1.38              $1.09          down .28