AAA Press Release: Lower Gas Prices for Labor Day

08/21/96

Lower Gas Prices Await Labor Day Travelers, AAA Says


ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 20 -- Motorists will find gas prices
down for the third consecutive month, but still higher than a year
ago, according to the American Automobile Association.

AAA's monthly Fuel Gauge Report shows the average price of self-serve
regular unleaded gasoline for August is $1.253 per gallon, down 2.1
cents from July's price of $1.274.

The price has dropped 5.4 cents per gallon in the last three months
but remains 7.5 cents more than last year's pre-Labor Day average of
$1.178 per gallon.

The average price of self-serve mid-grade unleaded is $1.278 per
gallon, 8.6 cents less than last month and .6 cent higher than a year
ago.  Self-serve premium fell 3.8 cents to $1.407, 5.5 cents more than
last year.

Self-serve regular unleaded is most expensive in the West at $1.393
per gallon, down 2.6 cents from last month and 12.6 cents higher than
a year ago.  It is least expensive in the Southeast at $1.173, 1.6
cents less than a month ago and 5.7 cents more that last year.

Other regional average prices are: New England, $1.29 per gallon, down
1 cent in one month and 5.3 cents higher than last year; Mid-Atlantic,
$1.257, down 2.5 cents this month and up 6.3 cents from a year ago;
Great Lakes, $1.201, down 4.1 cents from last month and 6.4 cents
higher than last year; Midwest, $1.225, down .5 cent for the month and
up 8.4 cents from a year ago; and Southwest, $1.235, down 2.3 cents in
one month and 7.8 cents higher than last year.

The national average prices for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline
for the last six months were: July, $1.274 per gallon; June, $1.303;
May, $1.307; April, $1.24; March, $1.18; and February, $1.129.

The national average prices for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline
in August for the last five years were: 1995, $1.178 per gallon; 1994,
$1.198; 1993, $1.10; 1992, $1.159; and 1991, $1.162.

The survey was conducted by Computer Petroleum Corp. of St. Paul,
Minn., which publishes the National Petroleum Price Index that
monitors more than 90,000 daily wholesale and retail prices in the
United States and Canada.

AAA is a not-for-profit federation of 106 motor clubs with more than
1,000 offices providing 39 million members in the U.S. and Canada with
travel, insurance, financial and auto-related services.