Average gasoline prices slip to $3.85/gal: survey

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices fell over the past two weeks and could ease further in coming weeks if the price of crude oil keeps dropping, according to the latest nationwide Lundberg survey.

The national average price for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was $3.8472 a gallon on August 8, a decline of almost 15 cents in the past two weeks, according to a survey of about 5,000 gas stations.

The decline is entirely due to lower crude oil prices, which have fallen $10 in the last week alone and are down about $30 from an all-time high of above $147 a barrel a month ago.

At just under $3.50 a gallon, Tulsa, Oklahoma had the lowest average price for self-serve regular unleaded gas, while the highest price was $4.37 a gallon in Anchorage, Alaska, closely followed by $4.36 a gallon in Honolulu, Hawaii, the survey showed.

"The only region of the country where regular grade averages above $4 a gallon is the Western region of the country," survey editor Trilby Lundberg said in an interview.

The Gulf Coast states enjoyed the lowest regional average gasoline prices at $3.74 a gallon.

Lundberg noted that recent fuel price increases in China, India and other developing economies have impacted overseas crude oil demand, which in turn has led to the fall in global crude oil prices.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha, editing by Richard Chang)