Fourth Of July Weekend Brings More Gas Price Bumps

Southern California travelers will pay more to fill up for their holiday getaways than during Memorial Day weekend, but still will save almost $10 per tank compared to last year’s Independence Day holiday, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The retail state average is $2.902 a gallon for regular today, 2.7 cents more than last Thursday.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.973 per gallon, which is 3.8 cents higher than last week, 14 cents higher than last month, and 59 cents lower than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $2.945, which is 4.4 cents higher than last week, 13 cents higher than last month, and 57 cents less than this time last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $2.988, 3.9 cents more than last week, 13 cents higher than a month ago, and 52 cents less than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per-gallon price is $2.909, 4.2 cents more than last week, 11 cents more than last month, and 58 cents less than last year.

“The Auto Club projects that more than three million Southern Californians will take July Fourth vacations, and 2.4 million of them will be driving,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “Although drivers are paying the highest gas prices since early January, the good news is that they are paying almost 60 cents less at the pump than this time last year and $1.20 less than in 2014 at this time. Also, local wholesale fuel prices have dropped back downward and if that trend continues, we should see prices at the pump stabilize or drop soon.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on June 30, averages are: