<div id="subtitle">Average price in California falls below $3 a gallon</div><div><p>The upward trend in gasoline prices that began last month has reversed direction, with prices headed lower for a third straight week.</p><p>The national average price of self-serve regular today is $2.664 a gallon, according to AAA's daily Fuel Gauge Report. That's down four cents from last Friday, reaching its level of one month ago. </p><p>The national average price of diesel fuel is $2.852, two cents cheaper than last week. </p><p>Once again, it's Wall Street's actions that are driving the price consumers pay for fuel. Prices rose over the last month as traders were convinced the world economy was on pace for recovery and the U.S. dollar continued to weaken. That sent oil prices well over $80 a barrel. </p><p>But new concerns have emerged recently about a worldwide recovery, particularly in China, and the price of oil has fallen. At the same time, the U.S. dollar, the currency in which oil is priced, has gotten stronger. As a result, oil prices have fallen, even though it has taken gasoline prices nearly a month to catch up. </p><p>"Last week, oil prices failed to rally on news the US gross domestic product increased by 5.7 percent during the final quarter of 2009," said Andrew Delmege, AAA's manager of regulatory affairs. "The reason for Wall Street largely looking past the surprisingly positive number reflects how sour 2009 was economically and how challenging 2010 could prove to be." </p><p>Meanwhile, U.S. consumers aren't buying as much gasoline as they once did. This week the Department of Energy said gasoline reserves dipped last week, but that US refineries had cut production. Crude oil supplies increased for the week, as energy demand remains weak. </p><p>As a result, U.S. motorists are continuing to enjoy a price break heading into the weekend. The cheapest gas in the nation today is in Missouri, with a statewide average of $2.446. </p><p>The most expensive gas is still found in Alaska and Hawaii. In the continental U.S., California has the highest price, but the statewide average price has fallen below $3 a gallon, to $2.978. San Francisco has California's most expensive average gas price, at $3.067 a gallon. The state's cheapest gasoline market this week is Yuba City, with an average price of $2.803 a gallon. </p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=68556621&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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