Camarillo, Calif. ? Gasoline prices nationwide dropped more than 2 cents during the past two weeks, but the steady decline since March could be slowing or coming to an end, an industry analyst said.

In her biweekly survey released Sunday, Trilby Lundberg attributed the decrease, to $1.56 a gallon, to increasing confidence about Middle East oil supplies. It is the fourth consecutive decline since gas prices peaked at $1.76 on March 21.

The average price for gas nationwide, including all grades and taxes, fell 2.28 cents to nearly $1.56 per gallon Friday, according to the survey by Lundberg of 8,000 stations. A year ago, on May 17, 2002, the weighted average for all three grades combined was $1.46 per gallon.

According to AAA Kansas, the price of gasoline in Lawrence is on the rise. The average price on Monday was $1.52 per gallon, up from $1.51 on Sunday and $1.44 a month ago. Last year’s average price was $1.31 per gallon.