Gas Prices Leap, But Not As Much As Expected

Gas prices spiked upward by two to three cents a day on average over the past week, but not as much as industry analysts had projected after problems associated with the summer fuel blend occurred last week, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The retail state average is $2.434 a gallon for regular today, 12.8 cents more than last Thursday.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.571 per gallon, which is 21 cents higher than last week, 15 cents less than last month, and 96 cents lower than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $2.499, which is 15.9 cents more than last week, 19 cents lower than last month, and 97 cents less than this time last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $2.485, 15.6 cents more than last week, 16 cents lower than a month ago, and 98 cents less than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per-gallon price is $2.473, 15.1 cents higher than last week, 21 cents less than last month, and 99 cents less than last year.

“Los Angeles wholesale gasoline prices continue to hover at the same levels as they reached last week, so the good news is the upward price pressure isn’t any worse and price increases seem to have slowed down for now,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “Also, drivers are paying nearly a dollar less for gasoline per gallon than at this time last year. We would be lucky if this is the end of the annual spring gasoline price spike in Southern California, but it is still pretty early in the cycle to say that with certainty.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on March 3, averages are: