AAA: Oklahoma's gas prices may be near spring peak

<br>TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Gasoline prices in Oklahoma have leaped about nine cents in the past month, but the state still has the lowest gas price average in the nation. <br><br>Oklahoma's average for

Saturday, March 27th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Gasoline prices in Oklahoma have leaped about nine cents in the past month, but the state still has the lowest gas price average in the nation.

Oklahoma's average for regular unleaded was about $1.62 a gallon Saturday, half a cent higher than Friday and about nine cents higher than this time last month, according to AAA Oklahoma. Oklahoma City's average was $1.60 Saturday, and Tulsa's was about $1.61.

The country's average was $1.75, according to AAA. California and Hawaii, both at $2.13, were the highest of all states. Motorists in Nevada were paying $2.05, and drivers in Arizona were paying $1.91.

Gasoline prices hit a record high nationally for the fourth consecutive day Friday.

Low crude oil inventories, high worldwide demand and the threat of an Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries output reduction are causing prices to rise, said AAA Oklahoma spokesman Chuck Mai.

``Street-corner competition,'' lower state gas taxes and the presence of local refineries are keeping Oklahoma's prices consistently lower, Mai said.

``We'll see prices level off and even decline in the first three weeks of April,'' he said. ``As we turn the corner into May and the summer driving season, we may see prices creep up.''

Refineries will soon switch from winter gasoline blends to cleaner-burning summer mixes. Mai doesn't expect that conversion to dramatically affect prices in Oklahoma.

However, the prices often rise when oil companies hold off on buying crude oil because of high prices, Mai said.

``In large part, this is orchestrated by the oil companies,'' he said.

Last month, the OPEC said it would cut production quotas by 10 percent in the second quarter to keep prices from dropping. Since then, several officials have said OPEC may delay cuts because of strong global demand.

The next OPEC meeting is set for Wednesday in Vienna, Austria.

Meanwhile, many drivers don't like the high prices but are simply dealing with them.

``I still have to get to work and back,'' Debbie Lewis said while pumping $30 worth of regular unleaded into her pickup at a convenience store near downtown Tulsa on Friday. ``I'll drive when I have to.''

The higher prices could boost profits for local oil companies in the refining business.

``If gasoline refinery profitability remains as strong as it is, we're looking at a good first quarter and even year,'' said John Olson of Sanders Morris Harris in Houston. ``ConocoPhillips will be a beneficiary of this.''