Gasoline prices hold steady

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Gas prices continued to hold steady over the last week, the Energy Department reported in its weekly survey of filling stations.

The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in California dropped nine-tenths of a cent to $2.912, down about 8% since the state’s average price hit a 2009 high of $3.153 a gallon Sept. 14.

Nationally, the average price for a gallon of regular gas rose half a cent to $2.634. California recorded the highest average gas price in the nation.

Prices on the West Coast were higher in any other region of the U.S., with an average price of $2.861.

The lowest average price was in the Gulf Coast, where it rose 2.1 cents to $2.518 a gallon.

The average U.S. gas price has hovered above $2.60 a gallon since Oct. 26, when the nation’s average was $2.674.

Gas prices have changed little recently as the U.S. supply of crude oil has been increasing over the last few weeks.

Crude oil for January delivery fell 2%, or $1.54, to close at $73.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles