Gas Prices Reverse Course, Head Upward Slightly

After more than a month of gas price drops, Southern California drivers saw a price uptick this week at local stations that is being tied to a local refinery purchasing supplies to meet its demand, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The retail state average is $2.63 a gallon for regular today, 1.2 cents less than last Thursday.
 
The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.651 per gallon, which is one cent lower than last week, 25 cents lower than last month, and $1.15 lower than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $2.671, which is 2.3 cents lower than last week, 22 cents lower than last month, and $1.08 less than this time last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $2.716, 1.7 cents less than last week, 23 cents lower than a month ago, and $1.01 less than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per-gallon price is $2.608, 1.3 cents less than last week, 25 cents less than last month, and $1.12 less than last year.
 
“This week, a California refiner reportedly bought supplies on the open market, indicating an inability to fulfill its contractual production obligations,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring.  “However, overall supplies of the Los Angeles summer gasoline blend also reportedly continue to be plentiful, so this could be a brief reversal and not a trend.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Aug. 18, averages are: