NATION Rising crude oil costs help push gasoline prices higher

STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
LOS ANGELES -- After dropping to less than $2 per gallon last month, the national average price of a gallon of gas is rising again, in large part because of higher crude oil prices, an industry analyst said Sunday.
Between Oct. 8 and Friday, the combined national average price for all grades of gas rose from $2.02 to $2.07 per gallon, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes a semimonthly survey of gas stations across the country.
The biggest-selling grade of gas, self-serve regular, was pegged at $2.04. Premium grade was priced at $2.23 a gallon, and midgrade at $2.14.
San Diego led the nation with an average price for a gallon of self-serve regular at $2.45. The best bargain was Tulsa, Okla., where the average price for self-serve regular was $1.83.
Fears about supply from top oil-producing countries and the growing appetite of emerging economic powers such as China and India have helped push up crude oil prices about 80 percent from a year ago.
In northeast Ohio, the price of gasoline fell last week, according to a survey by AAA Ohio Motorists Association. The price of self-serve regular was $1.97 a gallon Friday, which was 5 cents lower than a week before.
Friday's price was 44 cents higher than the average price a year ago. The group checks prices at 45 stations in nine counties.