AAA Texas: Gas Prices Remain Steady in Most Texas Cities in Anticipation of Hurricane Ike

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwire - September 11, 2008) - The average price of a gallon of gasoline dropped almost a penny in Texas compared to last week. The state average of $3.537 is about 14 cents lower than the national average which stayed about the same at $3.678.

In Houston, unleaded regular gasoline is at $3.455, up 1 cent from last week, but still below the national and state averages.

Houston, Fort Worth, and Dallas have the least expensive average price as compared to other metropolitan areas in the state. Dallas is reporting a price of $3.476 a gallon, a slight decrease since last week.

Reporting the highest price in the state is Beaumont at $3.633 followed by Austin-San Marcos at $3.604.

"As Hurricane Ike is in the Gulf, many are watching both the market and the storm because the production facilities along the gulf coast represent about a quarter of the nation's crude oil," said AAA-Texas Houston spokesperson Sarah Schimmer.

"AAA Texas is closely watching Hurricane Ike and we're following developments with regards to prices and availability for people along the Gulf and in the Houston area who are being told to evacuate. So far, fuel supplies remain sufficient," said AAA Corporate Communications Manager Dan Ronan in Irving.

Light, sweet crude oil reaching a record price of $147.27 a barrel on July 17th, is currently trading slightly higher than $102.00 a barrel. Gas has fallen about 44 cents since reaching a national peak average of $4.11 on July 17, but is still 89 cents above prices this time last year.

Members of the Texas Media please note: Members of the AAA Texas Government and Public Affairs team will be available to answer your questions and assist the public in any way we can; whether it's evacuation tips, gas prices or fuel availability in south Texas or along possible evacuation routes.

                                                             Record  Record
                     1 Week                                    High   High
            Current    Ago    Difference Year Ago Difference   Date   Price
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
            09/11/08 09/04/08 Difference 09/11/07 Difference   Date   Price
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
National       3.671    3.678     -0.007    2.815     +0.856 07/17/08 4.114
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
State          3.537    3.541     -0.004    2.692     +0.845 07/17/08 3.985
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
Amarillo       3.551    3.624     -0.073    2.938     +0.613 07/16/08 3.983
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
Austin-San
 Marcos        3.604    3.595     +0.009    2.729     +0.875 07/17/08 3.975
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
Beaumont       3.633    3.634     -0.001    2.682     +0.951 07/16/08 4.001
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
Corpus
 Christi       3.587    3.543     +0.044    2.663     +0.924 07/15/08 3.960
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
Dallas         3.476    3.484     -0.008    2.650     +0.826 07/16/08 3.983
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
El Paso        3.565    3.582     -0.017    2.894     +0.671 07/17/08 3.967
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
Ft. Worth      3.470    3.489     -0.019    2.648     +0.822 07/16/08 3.975
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
Galveston      3.487    3.456     +0.031    2.629     +0.858 07/14/08 3.968
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
Houston        3.455    3.442     +0.013    2.604     +0.851 07/17/08 3.960
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
San Antonio    3.555    3.548     +0.007    2.678     +0.877 07/16/08 3.957
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----
Texarkana
 (TX Only)     3.566    3.599     -0.033    2.711     +0.855 07/16/08 3.981
            -------- -------- ---------- -------- ---------- -------- -----

Contact Information: Contacts: Dan Ronan - Statewide/Dallas Ronan.dan@aaa-texas.com danronan@sprint.blackberry.net 469 221 8217 office 469 583 7070 cell Sarah Schimmer - Houston Schimmer.sarah@aaa-texas.com 713-284-6552 office 281-797-7886 cell Sonta Henderson - Austin Henderson.sonta@aaa-texas.com 512 444 4757 ext. 224 512 899 8046