Gas Prices Turn Downward After One-Week Increase

Southern California gas prices reversed course after a one-week increase and are heading downward again, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The retail state average is $2.657 a gallon for regular today, one cent less than last Thursday.

 
The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.707 per gallon, which is 2.2 cents lower than last week, 13 cents lower than last month, and four cents lower than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $2.709, which is 2.2 cents lower than last week, 12 cents lower than last month, and three-tenths of one cent less than this time last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $2.738, four-tenths of a cent less than last week, eight cents lower than a month ago, and four cents higher than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per-gallon price is $2.667, 1.8 cents less than last week, 12 cents less than this time last month, and one cent less than last year.

“California gasoline inventories are reportedly so plentiful that refiners are getting ready to export fuel to locations that command higher prices,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring.  “Pump prices are currently moving downward slowly, however, so we don’t expect too much change before a record 7.7 million Southern Californians start heading to their end-of-year holiday destinations next week.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Dec. 15, averages are: