Auto Club: One Month Of Gas Price Drops Mean Motorists Are Paying About The Same As Last Year

(LOS ANGELES, Jan. 26, 2007) – Southern California motorists are enjoying a fourth straight week of dropping gas prices that are at or even below the price levels of this time last year in some areas, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.514, which is 5.9 cents lower than last week, 12 cents lower than last month, and four cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $2.52, which is 7.9 cents below last week’s price, 16 cents below last month, and one cent below last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $2.701, down 6.4 cents from last week, 14 cents below last month, and seven cents higher than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average price is $2.515, 6.9 cents below last week, 13 cents lower than last month, and 1.2 cents higher than last year.

“Oil industry analysts point out that crude oil has jumped back up to about $55 a barrel from a low of below $50 on news that the President is calling for a doubling of the strategic oil reserve and signs that OPEC is honoring its pledge to cut oil production,” said Auto Club spokesperson Carol Thorp. “However, local prices are continuing to drop because refiners in California have an excess supply of the winter blend of gasoline, which they will no longer be able to sell after the end of February because of air quality regulations.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline as of 12:01 a.m., Jan. 26: