Fuel Prices Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fuel Prices - Statistics Project Example The mean price for regular unleaded gasoline in the US is $1.91/gallon, with a standard deviation of $0.17/gallon and a median of $1.86/gallon. Most of the state prices are distributed around the mean, except the outlier cases- Alaska ($2.51), California ($2.25) and Hawaii ($2.45). Without these three states, the standard deviation has a much lower value, and the normal-distribution curve is less spread out. Alaska has the highest state fuel price in the US- $0.60/gallon more than the mean price. The small demand-supply market, inefficient refineries, and lack of competition have kept the gas retail prices at a consistent high (Loy, â€Å"State begins inquiry into higher gas prices†). In California, a combination of unregulated refineries, low demand and difficulty in transportation has led to an increase in the gas prices (â€Å"Record high gasoline prices in California but relief may be in sight†). Hawaii is the most oil-dependent state in the nation, with more than 90 percent of its energy coming from imported oil. Being a tourist destination, the states economy is also extremely sensitive to global oil prices. Due to these factors, the cost of gas in Hawaii has also shot up in recent times (Song, â€Å"Gas Prices In Hawaii, California Hit $4†). The two fuel prices show a fairly strong linear correlation, with the diesel and premium unleaded gasoline prices varying proportionally. Most states form a single clustered group. The only anomalous points are for the states of California ($2.33, $2.43), and Nevada ($2.26, $2.40) and Washington ($2.40, $2.36). In these states, the prices of premium unleaded gasoline are higher than diesel prices by an average $0.09. The two outlier cases – though distributed about the linear regression line – have exceptionally high cost of both diesel and premium unleaded gasoline. The dependency of the two variables is still proportional (thus, these are not anomalous points), but the overall price