Gas Prices Don't Deter Vacationers

Rising Oil Prices And Summer Driving Demand Boost Average To $2.31

(CBS/AP)  Traders had feared a repeat of last year's Hurricane Ivan, which damaged oil platforms and caused months of lost production in the Gulf of Mexico. But the region's oil facilities, the source of 30 percent of U.S. output, weathered Hurricane Dennis largely unscathed.

"The market will continue to expand last Friday's sell-off given that there's minimal damage caused by the hurricane," said analyst Victor Shum of Texas-based energy consultants Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

"Right now, the lowest self-serve regular average in our survey is Charleston, S.C., $2.09 for self-serve regular, and the highest is San Diego, Calif., at $2.55," said Lundberg.

The $2.31 mark is well below the inflation-adjusted high — $3.03 a gallon, in March 1981.

Lundberg noted that demand for gasoline was up 2.5 percent compared to last June, despite the jump in prices. A stronger economy, she said, made the price "more absorbable" for consumers.

One driver on the New Jersey Turnpike told DeNardo he's cutting back on summer driving — because it's cheaper to fly.