PINCHED AT THE PUMP : ANALYSTS SAY HIGH GAS PRICES TO CONTINUE.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer

Woodland Hills business consultant Craig Isom got a dose of pump shock Wednesday when he paid $24 to fuel his car with 16 gallons of gasoline.

``They're just creeping up,'' Isom, a partner at Andersen Consulting, said of gasoline prices. ``But what can you do about it? I've got to fill up my car with gas. It's a seller's market and we, the buyers, can't do anything about it.''

Isom's perception about prices is right. They have been steadily climbing since early January and industry consultants predict the trend will continue for a while.

Increasing demand, rising crude oil prices, diminished supplies and tougher clean air standards are to blame.

The price for a gallon of regular unleaded, self-serve gas in the Los Angeles area hit $1.26 June 9 and fell steadily until Jan. 5, when it bottomed out at $1.14, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Letter, which compiles average prices in major metropolitan markets twice a month.

Lundberg's latest survey, taken March 22, had the price up to $1.25. A spot check of 20 stations between North Hollywood and Woodland Hills on Wednesday found most regular unleaded in the $1.30 a gallon range. Premium cost 15 to 20 cents more.

``We had a lot of declines in the previous year and the two elements that have caused this reversal are crude oil prices and what we believe to be strong demand,'' Lundberg said. ``And what we have happening right now is a world-class drama with the California unique blends coming on stream.''

She's referring to the state-mandated, cleaner-burning gasoline that California refiners had to start producing March 1 and must ship to their distribution terminals by Monday. The gasoline, required at the retail level by June 1, could cost up to 8 cents a gallon more, according to some estimates.

Jim Huccaby, manager of product pricing at Chevron Products U.S.A., the marketing unit of San Francisco-based Chevron Corp., said that crude oil prices have risen about $5.50 a barrel in the last two months.

``That over time will require the industry to transmit product prices into the marketplace,'' he said.

At the same time, refineries all along the West Coast have been making less gasoline because they have to prepare equipment to make the new clean-burning blend, which also tightens supplies.

Gasoline stockpiles also have dwindled, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The nation's gasoline inventory totals about 202 million barrels.

``That's well below the average for the last several years,'' said Dave Costello, economist at the department's Energy Information Administration.

The agency expects demand to reach record levels this summer as motorists drive 7 million miles daily.

The tight oil supplies, which are driving up prices, are the result of an unusually cold winter in many parts of the country. But this situation should ease over the next several months.

``If nothing else happens we would expect prices to come down before the middle of the driving season, but there obviously is some uncertainty about that and how far down they will go,'' Costello said.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Chart

Photo: (Color) Craig Isom was shocked to find it cos t him $24 to fill up his 16-gallon tank Wednesday.

Myung J. Chun/Daily News

Chart: (Color) Rising Gas Prices

Bradford Mar/Daily News