Lower demand figures in gas price decrease

Camarillo, Calif. — The average price for all grades of gasoline nationwide has fallen nearly 4 1/2 cents per gallon in two weeks because of a drop in crude oil prices and slightly lower demand, an industry analyst said Sunday.

The average retail price for all three grades dropped 4.46 cents to $2.27 per gallon between April 8 and Friday, said Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations around the country.

The drop comes after an average 19-cent jump in overall gas prices during the last survey, taken between March 18 and April 8.

“This is the first significant price drop in retail gasoline this year,” Lundberg said. “It’s not possible to quantify, but demand for gasoline is surely being dampened by high prices to a level lower than it would have been.”

Lundberg also said the cost of crude oil fell several dollars last week, triggering the dip in pump prices.

She predicted that gasoline prices would plateau and/or decrease in the coming weeks, but that any dips would be erased in the long-term by increased demand from summer travel and an increase in refining costs.

Microsoft responds in gay-rights flap

Seattle — In an e-mail to employees Saturday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer shot down suggestions that pressure from a local pastor triggered the company’s decision to not publicly support a gay-rights bill before the state legislature this year.

Microsoft Corp. wants to focus on computer privacy, education and other issues more directly related to its business, Ballmer said.

A bill that would have banned discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing, employment and insurance failed by one vote Thursday in the state Senate. The House had passed the bill on a 61-37 vote two months ago.

The Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor at Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, met with Microsoft in February, threatening to launch a national boycott of Microsoft products if the company did not take a stand against the bill. Ballmer said the meeting took place to clarify that two Microsoft employees who testified in favor of the bill were speaking as individuals, not for the company.

Nevertheless, gay-rights advocates have accused Microsoft of caving in to the religious right and abandoning its long-standing support for the rights of gays and other minorities.

On Friday, The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, a gay and lesbian advocacy group, asked Microsoft to return a civil-rights award the organization gave the company four years ago.

The week ahead

Today

Economic indicators: March existing home sales.

Tuesday

Senate Finance Committee opens hearings on Social Security reform.

Lockheed Martin releases quarterly results.

Wednesday

Boeing and Verizon issue quarterly reports.

Economic indicators: March durable good orders.

Thursday

Bristol-Myers, ExxonMobil, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Comcast, Nextel issue quarterly reports.

Economic indicator: First-quarter GDP.

Friday

Economic indicators: March personal income and spending.