FORGET MILK - GOT GAS? PER GALLON, MOO JUICE IS LESS EXPENSIVE THAN FUEL FOR YOUR VEHICLE.

Byline: Brent Hopkins and Brad A. Greenberg Staff Writers

LOS ANGELES - At $3.314 a gallon, Los Angeles gasoline prices have ventured into uncharted territory.

In this record range, marked by the Automobile Club of Southern California's daily survey Wednesday, gas stations have begun running out of the plastic numeral 3s and resorted to posting hand-drawn signs to announce the price. Independent stations, affected by the wild swings of the spot market, rushed closer to the once-unthinkable $4 mark.

It's even more expensive to fill your tank than an equivalent-size cereal bowl these days, with the $3.314 at the pump well past the $3.09 for a gallon of homogenized milk at a Trader Joe's in Sherman Oaks.

And to hear industry watchers tell it, there's no clear, compelling reason the market's gone so high. Spooked by high prices, gasoline traders pushed the spot market up to nearly $3 on Tuesday, only to see it retreat 20 cents Wednesday.

``It's hard to go on record saying people are freaking out, but that's what's happening,'' said Paul Gonzales, an Auto Club spokesman. ``You'd like to have a more intelligent reason, but that's it. And our businesses, our lifestyles, our vacations, our time with our families are all at stake just because people are afraid.''

Indeed, the California Energy Commission has no record of any refinery interruptions, and an analyst from the federal Energy Information Administration couldn't peg the wild swings to any particular event. The Energy Commission speculated that the spike could have stemmed from a delay in refined gasoline delivery, but had nothing concrete.

``Unfortunately, there's no real clear-cut reason for what we're seeing,'' said Rob Schlichting, a spokesman for the Sacramento-based agency. ``In the past, there'd be a refinery outage or something you could pinpoint for why things were happening, but not at the moment. Maybe this will help cut demand.''

It already has, according to the Oil Price Information Service, an independent market watcher based in New Jersey. Demand generally grows 3 percent annually, but is currently running flat with the previous year.

Things should begin settling in coming weeks, according to Denton Cinquegrana, West Coast markets editor for OPIS, but not before added increases at the pump.

``Things are pretty well out of whack right now,'' Cinquegrana said. ``Two dollars came and went, $3 is the norm now -- it'll come back, it won't be there forever, because we're getting pretty close to a peak. Once we get into late May or June, it should settle down''

While demand has remained flat, consumers' ire has not.

``California is getting totally ripped off by these companies,'' said Julia Crippen, 73, of Northridge. ``It's outrageous they are making billions of dollars, and it costs us like $60 to fill up.''

Ten dollars bought Nicole Volotzky three gallons of gasoline Wednesday afternoon, not even a quarter of her Honda CRV's fuel tank. And the California State University, Northridge, sophomore anticipated needing more before driving from Chatsworth to the Dodgers game Wednesday evening.

``Hopefully,'' Volotzky said, ``whoever is coming in my car will pitch in for gas.''

A few pumps away at the Arco on Mason Avenue and Devonshire Street, Joan Jayasinghe dropped $41.70 into her Buick.

``And it wasn't even empty,'' the 65-year-old Ventura retiree said. ``I feel like going around and putting up big placards telling people not to drive at least two days a week.''

The pain felt at the pump extends into the dealer's booth, as well. Dave Nassaney, who owns Dave's Mobil and Coffee Stop Drive Thru in Castaic, has been ``going broke'' as he pays $2.65 a gallon to get his gasoline from ExxonMobil.

After taxes and credit card fees, he's barely making a profit and has begun seeking out other sources of revenue.

``I'm working more shifts, working the cash register, I even started selling espresso to try to bring people in,'' he said. ``But it's hard to get people in when you're selling gas at our prices right now -- $3.49 a gallon! They don't have any money left for coffee, because they already spent it all.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) A gallon of regular gas in Los Angeles: $3.31

(2 -- color) A gallon of whole milk at Trader Joe's: $3.09