SoCal Gas Prices Hover Near $3 As Hurricane Warning Looms

Gas price averages moved by just a penny or less over the last week, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The retail statewide average is $2.98 a gallon for regular unleaded, unchanged from a week ago.
 
The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.02 per gallon, which is one cent more than last week, 10 cents above last month, and 32 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $2.99, which is one cent above last week, nine cents more than last month, and 29 cents more than this time last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.04, which is up one cent from last week, nine cents higher than last month, and 29 cents higher than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per-gallon price is $2.94, which is also one cent more than last week, nine cents more than last month, and 30 cents more than at this time last year.

“Most areas experienced a very slight increase in prices last week, and underlying market conditions continue to be stable, not favoring either an increase or decrease,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring.  “Tropical Storm Harvey, which is forecast to become a hurricane and is expected to hit tomorrow near several Gulf Coast refineries in Texas, could also impact gas prices nationally. However, California does not receive any supply from those refineries, so the effect on local prices is unlikely to be major.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Aug. 24, averages are: