Signs that gas prices are peaking

Gasoline prices continue to set records across the nation, but the daily increases are getting smaller and there are signs that prices could be nearing a peak.

After peaking at $135.09 last Thursday, crude retreated. California prices were up minimally early this week, and reports of significant declines in consumption sent crude oil prices down $3.34 a barrel, to $128.85.

The California average for self-serve regular hit $4.12 on Tuesday, according to AAA, up a fraction of a cent. Denton Cinquegrana, an analyst who follows West Coast markets for the Oil Price Information Service, said he doubts prices will go much beyond $4.20.

"There's probably not too much upside left," he said. "Obviously, crude oil dropping down below $130 ... is a step in the right direction." Yet he said crude could reverse itself and move back up.

On Tuesday traders were influenced by reports saying consumption is falling, including a Federal Highway Administration study that said Americans drove 4.3 percent fewer miles in March than the year before, the first drop since 1979.

(E-mail Dale Kasler at dkaslser@sacbee.com)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)