Gas prices soar; diesel hits record high

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By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

Soaring Seattle-area gas prices showed no signs of slowing down as they climbed to within one cent of record levels on Sunday. Diesel prices hit record highs in many parts of the state, including the Seattle area.

Story Published: Mar 1, 2008 at 4:11 PM PDT

Story Updated: Mar 2, 2008 at 10:29 AM PDT

Gas prices soar; diesel hits record high
Soaring Seattle-area gas prices showed no signs of slowing down as they climbed to within one cent of record levels on Sunday. Diesel prices hit record highs in many parts of the state, including the Seattle area.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.46 per gallon in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area. That's only one cent below its record high of about $3.47 per gallon, set on May 14 last year, according to AAA, which tracks fuel prices across the nation.

A year ago, regular unleaded was selling for $2.58 per gallon in the Seattle area. A month ago, it was $3.04.

The average price of diesel fuel in Seattle was $3.84 per gallon on Sunday - nearly a dollar more than it was a year ago.

Elsewhere in Washington state, a gallon of regular unleaded was going for $3.47 a gallon in Bellingham, $3.44 per gallon in Bremerton and $3.42 in Olympia. The cheapest place to buy gas in the state was in Spokane, where it was selling for $3.30 a gallon.

Nationwide, the average price for regular unleaded was a little over $3.16 per gallon.

In parts of California, premium unleaded gas was selling for more than $4 at some stations. The average price for premium gas in San Francisco was $3.92 on Sunday.

The soaring gas prices stem from tight supplies and from near-record high prices for crude oil, experts said.