Weeklong Gas Price Spike Continues, But at Slower Pace

The Southern California gas price spike that started a week ago due to lower gasoline inventories continues to lift prices throughout the region, adding an average of more than 70 cents per gallon over the week in most areas, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. However the rate of increase has slowed in the last 24 hours in the wake of lower wholesale prices.  The retail state average is $3.884 a gallon for regular today, 45 cents higher than last week.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $4.302 per gallon, which 76 cents higher than last week, 65 cents higher than last month, and 19 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $4.236, which is 74 cents higher than last week, 63 cents lower than last month, and 15 cents higher than last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $4.184, 71 cents more than last week, 56 cents higher than a month ago, and 5 cents more than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per-gallon price is $4.195, 72 cents higher than last week, 61 cents more than last month, and 11 cents more than last year.

“Motorists took it on the chin this past week as gas prices shot past $4 per gallon in most areas,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “However, it appears that the markets are settling down with the wholesale price in LA giving back about half of last week’s more than $1 per gallon increase. Retail prices only rose 3 to 5 cents per gallon from yesterday to today, compared to the double-digit daily increases we saw earlier.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on July 16, averages are: