Auto Club: Gas Prices Drop Even Before Winter Blend Arrives

Today is the first day Southern California gas stations can start selling the cheaper winter blend of gasoline, but prices already started dropping over the past week, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The retail statewide average is $3.78 a gallon for regular unleaded, which is three cents lower than last week.
 
The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.83 per gallon, which is four cents lower than last week, two cents higher than last month, and 67 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $3.79, which is four cents lower than last Thursday, four cents higher than last month, and 66 cents higher than this time last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.82, which is five cents lower than week, five cents higher than last month, and 66 cents higher than last year. In Riverside, the average per-gallon price is $3.75, which is five cents under last week, six cents higher than last month, and 67 cents more than this time last year.

“Los Angeles wholesale gasoline prices have continued plunging for the second straight week and are now at their lowest level since mid-February, which should continue to push down prices at the pump,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “Worldwide oil prices continue to drop, and as more local gas stations take delivery of winter-blend fuel, they will be paying at least 12 cents a gallon less for that gasoline.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Nov. 1, averages are: