File photo

VALDOSTA — Gasoline prices in the city slid a little last week, even as prices stabilized on the national level.

The price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the city Sunday was $2.60, down two cents from a week earlier, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

The lowest price reported in Valdosta for gasoline Sunday was $2.50 a gallon at a store in the 700 block of East Park Avenue, according to the price tracking website gasbuddy.com.

The city tied with Dalton for ninth place for highest retail prices Sunday among the 17 fuel markets AAA tracks in Georgia.

Nationally, the price of a gallon of gasoline remained unchanged Sunday from a week before at $2.85 a gallon, while Georgia’s average of $2.69 a gallon fell two cents in the same period, according to the auto club.

In Friday market action, benchmark U.S. crude gained 1 percent to $74.15 a barrel in New York and rose 14 percent during the second quarter, to its highest price since late 2014. The S&P 500 index of energy companies climbed almost 13 percent this quarter, far better than the rest of the market and its biggest gain in six and a half years.

Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 1.9 percent to $79.44 a barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline climbed 2.2 percent to $2.18 a gallon. Heating oil jumped 1.4 percent to $2.21 a gallon. Natural gas lost 0.5 percent to $2.92 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.