Fair and 71° F

The summer driving kicked into high gear earlier this week during the three-day Memorial Day weekend holiday.

Gasoline prices throughout The Times and Democrat Region, however, revealed less activity with a majority of the station's surveyed experiencing little to no price change.

Selected stations surveyed Wednesday revealed the least-expensive self-serve regular unleaded gasoline sold for $1.259 at the Phillips 66 Li'l Cricket at the Bowman exit at mile 159 on Interstate 26. The station is on Homestead Road.

Also, gasoline sold for $1.259 at the Shell E-Z Shop at U.S. 21 and Highway 22, the Hess and Li'l Cricket, all near Interstate 26 exit 139.

In Orangeburg, the least-expensive was found at seven area stations for $1.269 a gallon. See survey for specifics.

The most-expensive surveyed sold in Bamberg and Branchville for $1.339 a gallon.

Crude futures settled higher Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, despite a spate of selling that lasted most of the day.

"Some people may have thought last week's moves to the upside were pretty overdone," said Tom Bentz, an analyst at BNP Paribas in New York. "But the selling dried up. People saw the market holding, so they started to buy again."

While analysts pointed to gasoline futures as the leader of Tuesday's sell-off on the Nymex, the product is seen as well-supported ahead of summer, when demand for gasoline traditionally rises as consumers use their cars more frequently.

Expiring gasoline futures for June delivery fell 1.13 cents to settle at 89.52 cents a gallon, while the July contract took less of a hit, closing down 0.59 cent at 85.14 cents a gallon.

As The T&D continues its weekly gas survey, we encourage readers to get involved.

If you know of a gasoline price consistently lower than those in our survey, let us know by e-mail at news@timesanddemocrat.com, by fax at 803-533-5595 or by phone at 803-534-1060. The prices must be consistently low for inclusion in the survey. Here are some of the prices found in the survey conducted Wednesday morning, May 28:

Orangeburg

Horizon E-Z Shop, Old St. Matthews Road: regular unleaded, $1.269.

Dodge's Store at U.S. 301 and Cannon Bridge Road: regular unleaded, $1.269.

Henry's on U.S. 301: regular unleaded, $1.269.

Li'l Cricket at U.S. 301 and Highway 70: regular unleaded, $1.269.

Horizon E-Z Shop, Shillings Bridge Road: regular unleaded, $1.269.

Speedway, Boulevard St. and Carolina Ave., $1.269.

Speedway, U.S. 21 and U.S. 21 Bypass: regular unleaded, $1.269.

Short Stop, Magnolia and U.S. 178: regular unleaded, $1.279.

Gaz-bah Exxon, Chestnut and Ellis: regular unleaded, $1.279.

Exxon, Charleston Highway: regular unleaded, $1.279.

Big D's Shell, Magnolia Street and U.S. 178: regular unleaded, $1.289.

Hot Spot, John C. Calhoun Drive: regular unleaded, $1.299.

Neeses

Fogle's Piggly Wiggly, Highway 4 and U.S. 321: regular unleaded, $1.269.

Bamberg

3-Way Food Mart, Main Street: regular unleaded, $1.339.

Horizon E-Z Shop West, U.S. 78 West: regular unleaded, $1.339.

Horizon E-Z Shop on U.S. 301 South: regular unleaded, $1.339.

Branchville

Horizon E-Z Shop, Freedom Road: regular unleaded, $1.339.

Santee

Horizon E-Z Shop, Highway 6: regular unleaded, $1.279.

St. George

Fast Point Food Store, on Highway 78 and Sears Street: regular unleaded, $1.309.

St. Matthews

Amoco, Highway 6: regular unleaded, $1.329.

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