Average gas price increases 19 cents

Gas prices soared an average 19 cents in the past three weeks due to lingering high crude oil prices, growing demand and higher refining costs, an industry analyst said Sunday.

The average retail price for all three grades increased 18.95 cents to $2.32 per gallon between March 18 and Friday, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthy Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations around the country.

The most popular grade, self-serve regular, was priced at $2.29 a gallon, while customers paid $2.38 for midgrade. Premium averaged $2.48 a gallon for the period.

The highest average gas price in the nation for regular unleaded was $2.62 a gallon in Bakersfield, Calif. The lowest price was $2.06 in Newark, N.J.

Transaction

Verizon to purchase billionaire’s MCI share

Verizon Communications Inc. said Saturday it is paying $1.1 billion to acquire a 13.4 percent stake in MCI Inc. directly from its largest single stockholder.

The transaction removes a wild card in Verizon’s bid to fend off a higher-priced offer to acquire MCI by Qwest Communications International Inc. of Denver.

The New York telephone company is paying $25.72 per share in cash to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, who had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the offers from both Verizon and Qwest.

The deal values Slim’s 43.4 million shares at an 11 percent premium to the $23.10 per share Verizon agreed to pay MCI’s other shareholders two weeks ago in a sweetened $7.5 billion deal.

Verizon and Qwest, two of the nation’s biggest telephone companies, have been battling for two months to win MCI and its national fiber-optic network and lucrative roster of government and corporate clients.