Gas prices fall 9 cents in two weeks

The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States fell nearly 9 cents a gallon to about $3.29 over the last two weeks due to weakening demand, an industry analyst said on Sunday.

``The deep rate of unemployment has sent demand down,'' Trilby Lundberg, editor of the Lundberg survey, told Reuters. ''It is the work commute that creates most of our gasoline demand.''

According to the survey of gas prices based on some 2,500 gas stations nationwide, the national average for regular gas has fallen nearly 18 cents a gallon over the past six weeks. On Oct. 21, the average price was about $3.47 a gallon.

The decline in the gasoline prices is ``a gaping wound'' for refiners that are already being pressured by higher crude oil prices, Trilby said on Sunday.

Trilby said that the current price of $3.29 is about 38 cents per gallon above the year-ago price.

San Francisco, at $3.67 a gallon, had the highest average price for self-serve, regular gas in the two-week survey period, while drivers in Albuquerque, N.M., paid the least at $2.84 a gallon.