BURNSVILLE, Minn., Sept. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. average price for self-serve regular gasoline has dropped 10.1 cents per gallon since hitting a record $3.057 on Labor Day.
AAA also said Tuesday that "today's national average price of $2.956 is 51.6 cents more expensive than it was one month ago and $1.115 higher than last year at this time.
"Crucial oil refineries, pipelines, petroleum shipping and off-shore drilling platforms were idled and/or damaged by Hurricane Katrina, which immediately resulted in a severe strain to our nation's gasoline and diesel fuel distribution system," said a spokeswoman.
"The 45-cents-per-gallon price spike in the week after the storm was the largest ever recorded by AAA, and was accompanied by reports of many gasoline stations increasing prices several times in a single day, scattered fuel outages and motorists lining up to purchase fuel."
AAA said 19 of the nation's 50 states Tuesday had average retail prices for regular gasoline below $3 per gallon.
