Area gas prices level off

Gasoline prices in the Philadelphia area appear to have stabilized after their recent runup as crude oil prices rose, according to figures released today by AAA Mid-Atlantic.

In Philadelphia and the four surrounding counties, today's average price for regular unleaded is $3.11 a gallon, unchanged from Tuesday and up just one cent over the last week, AAA said.

The average in the three suburban South Jersey counties today is $2.92 per gallon, also unchanged from Tuesday and up a penny in the last week.

In the last month, the average rose 13 cents a gallon in the Pennsylvania counties and 12 cents in South Jersey, AAA said.

Crude oil futures were up 67 cents at $88.92 a barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A month ago, the futures were at $80.44, and they were $71.63 in late August.    -Paul Schweizer