Southern California gas prices are heading upward due to higher demand and refinery exports, but are closing out the year as the most stable in at least a decade and with the lowest annual average price since 2009, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The retail state average is $2.715 a gallon for regular today, 4.2 cents more than last Thursday.
The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.771 per gallon, which is 5.2 cents higher than last week, five cents higher than last month, and 27 cents lower than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $2.763, which is 4.4 cents higher than last week, four cents higher than last month, and 24 cents less than this time last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $2.773, 1.9 cents more than last week, three cents higher than a month ago, and 20 cents lower than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per-gallon price is $2.716, 4.1 cents more than last week, two cents more than this time last month, and 26 cents less than last year.
“2016 was an unusual year for Southern California gas prices in its stability, and the year-to-date annual average price in Los Angeles is $2.797 – lower than for any other year since 2009’s average of $2.676,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “For more than three-quarters of the year, Los Angeles-Long Beach gas price averages stayed between $2.70 and $2.91 a gallon – just a 21-cent difference. Drivers experienced double-digit price increases during only two weeks of this year. The lowest LA gas price average was $2.36 on Feb. 25, and the highest was $3.075 on Jan. 6 – a 71-cent difference. However, most years we see a difference in low and high prices of well over a dollar a gallon due to our annual spring spike and/or major local refinery issues.”
The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Dec. 29, averages are:
Area |
Regular |
1-week change |
2016 YTD Avg |
Los Angeles – Long Beach |
$2.771 |
+5.2 cents |
$2.797 |
|
|
|
|
Orange County |
$2.773 |
+6.1 cents |
$2.781 |
|
|
|
|
San Diego |
$2.763 |
+4.4 cents |
$2.774 |
|
|
|
|
Santa Barbara – Santa Maria – Lompoc |
$2.773 |
+1.9 cents |
$2.796 |
|
|
|
|
Riverside – San Bernardino |
$2.716 |
+4.1 cents |
$2.747 |
|
|
|
|
Ventura |
$2.744 |
+3.4 cents |
$2.779 |
|
|
|
|
Bakersfield |
$2.687 |
+2.7 cents |
$2.71 |