U.S. gasoline prices have surged by more than 30 cents over the past month
U.S. gasoline prices have surged by more than 30 cents over the past month with the beginning of the peak driving season less than two months away, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
The paper quoted the AAA auto club as saying that the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline reached 2.58 dollars agallon on Monday, 31 cents higher than a month ago when the pricesaveraged at 2.27 dollars a gallon.
The average gasoline price in the Washington metropolitan area hit 2.63 dollars a gallon, compared with 2.27 dollars a month ago and 2.17 dollars a year ago.
However, high gasoline prices have had only a modest impact on the driving habits of American motorists, who have done relativelylittle to moderate their gasoline consumption.
Some analysts estimated that it take a 20 percent increase in price to trim gas consumption by 1 percent today while a 10 percent increase of gasoline prices in the 1970s would have an identical effect
