U.S. average gasoline price in four-week slide

NEW YORK Feb 7 (Reuters) - The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States slid in the last two weeks, undercut by lower crude oil prices as a glut of petroleum products, an industry analyst said on Sunday.

The national average for self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline was $2.66 a gallon on Feb. 5, down 5.76 cents from Jan. 22, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of some 5,000 gas stations.

The average gas price has now fallen four straight weeks.

"The price slide at the pump comes directly from lower crude oil prices," survey editor Trilby Lundberg said, noting that gas prices fell slightly less in the two weeks than benchmark crude oil, which was down the equivalent of about 8 cents per gallon.

"This was very quick for the retail price to respond" to crude prices, she said. "Although there are forces such as the weak (U.S.) dollar that can push oil prices up, the dominant trend seems to be the glut of petroleum ... stemming directly from the recession and the reduced number of employed people."

It is unlikely that the oversupply will be soaked up any time soon, probably leading to lower gasoline prices in coming weeks, Lundberg added.

The new national average is nearly 75 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

Cheyenne, Wyoming, had the lowest average price at $2.38 per gallon, according to the survey, while Honolulu, Hawaii, had the highest prices, with an average of $3.32 per gallon.

San Francisco was the most expensive of continental local markets, with an average price at the pump of $2.97 per gallon. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer, Editing by Maureen Bavdek)