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Auto Club: Gas Prices End 2009 by Shooting Toward $3 and Beyond

(LOS ANGELES, Dec. 31, 2009) –The end of 2009 also brought the end of a seven-week near-plateau for gas prices as stations around the Southland again began charging $3 or more for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.975 per gallon, which is 5.1 cents more than last week, 3.1 cents more than last month, and $1.18 higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $2.97, which is 5.7 cents more than last week’s price, 3.7 cents above last month, and $1.12 higher than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.032, up 2.6 cents from last week, up 3.7 cents from a month ago, and $1.13 above last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per gallon price is $2.962, which is 5.6 cents more than last week, 2.4 cents more than last month, and $1.17 more than last year.

“In the beginning of 2009, local gas prices were at their lowest point at well below $2 a gallon and they reached their peak in mid-September at $3.10 to $3.20 a gallon,” said Auto Club spokesperson Jeffrey Spring. “The major factors for the direction of 2010 gasoline prices will be the economy and the strength of the U.S. dollar.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 1 p.m. on Dec. 31, averages are:
 
 
Area                   
 Regular
One-week
change
 
Record Price
 
Los Angeles – Long Beach
$2.975
    + 5.1 cents
 $4.626 (6/21/08)
 
 
 
 
Orange County
$2.966
     +5.1 cents
 $4.598 (6/19/08)
 
 
 
 
San Diego
$2.970
     +5.7 cents
 $4.630 (6/19/08)
 
 
 
 
Santa Barbara – Santa Maria – Lompoc
$3.032
     +2.6 cents
 $4.709 (6/21/08)
 
 
 
 
Riverside – San  Bernardino
$2.962
     +5.6 cents
 $4.614 (6/22/08)
 
 
 
 
Bakersfield
$2.996
     +4.2 cents
 $4.591 (6/24/08)
 
 
 
 
Ventura
$2.984
      +6.1 cents
 $4.625 (6/18/08)

Media Contacts

Marie Montgomery
(714) 885-2320
Montgomery.Marie@aaa-calif.com

CST 1016202-80 Copyright © Automobile Club of Southern California. All Rights Reserved.
The Automobile Club of Southern California is a member club affiliated with the American Automobile Association (AAA) national federation and serves members in the following California counties: Inyo, Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Ventura.