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Auto Club: Gas Prices Move Up Slightly Before Holidays

Christmas truck by El Cajon Yacht Club
Photo by El Cajon Yacht Club https://www.flickr.com/photos/ el_cajon_yacht_club https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/

After dropping for seven consecutive weeks, Southern California gas prices moved up slightly in several areas just as a record number of travelers are getting ready to hit the road, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The retail statewide average is $3.42 a gallon for regular unleaded, which is unchanged from last week.
 
The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $3.46 per gallon, which is two cents higher than last week, 20 cents lower than last month, and 37 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $3.42, which is one cent higher than last Thursday, 21 cents lower than last month, and 35 cents higher than this time last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $3.46, which is unchanged from last week, 21 cents lower than last month, and 31 cents higher than last year. In Riverside, the average per-gallon price is $3.33, which is two cents higher than last week, 25 cents lower than last month, and 29 cents more than at this time last year.

“A couple of local refinery incidents, along with reports of gas supply shortages in nearby states that could affect California supplies, caused wholesale and futures prices to spike sharply beginning last Thursday,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “However, both wholesale and futures prices have dropped in the last three days, so we don’t expect pump prices to rise much further heading into the end of the year.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Dec. 20, averages are:

Area

Regular

1-week change

Record Price

Los Angeles – Long Beach

$3.46

 +2 cents

 $4.70 (10/9/12)

 

 

 

 

Orange County

$3.42

 +4 cents

 $4.69 (10/8/12)

 

 

 

 

San Diego

$3.42

 +1 cent

 $4.72 (10/8/12)

 

 

 

 

Santa Barbara – Santa Maria –Lompoc

$3.46

 No change

 $4.70 (6/21/08)

 

Riverside

$3.33

 +2 cents

$4.68 (10/8/12)

 

 

 

 

San Bernardino

$3.38

 -1 cent

 $4.68 (10/8/12)

 

 

 

 

Ventura

$3.45

 +1 cent

 $4.68 (10/7/12)

 

 

 

 

Bakersfield

$3.42

 -2 cents

 $4.64 (10/9/12)

Media Contacts

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

Doug Shupe
(512) 659-1632
shupe.doug@aaa-calif.com

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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.