The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County dropped Tuesday for third time in four days, decreasing seven-tenths of a cent to $5.405.
The average price has dropped 1.6 cents over the past four days, including one-tenth of a cent Monday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. The run of decreases follows back-to-back increases totaling 3.8 cents.
The average price is 1.8 cents more than one week ago, 35.9 cents less than one month ago and 88.6 cents higher than one year ago. It has increased 71.1 cents since the start of the joint U.S./Israel attack on Iran on Feb. 28, which sent oil prices higher and drastically accelerated increases at the gas pump.
The Orange County average price rose one-tenth of a cent to $5.299, one day after dropping 1.1 cents. It is 3.1 cents more than one week ago, 33 cents less than one month ago and 83.8 cents lower than one year ago.
The Orange County average price has increased 66.3 cents since the attack on Iran.
The national average price fell 1.3 cents to $3.859, the fourth consecutive decrease following three consecutive increases totaling 9.4 cents. It has dropped 2.5 cents over the past four days, including four-tenths of a cent Monday.
The national average price is 6.9 cents more than one week ago, 21.5 cents less than one month ago and 70.8 cents higher than one year ago. It has increased 87.7 cents since the attack on Iran.
“The pain at the pump is about to intensify, and this time it’s not one story driving it, it’s two,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which provides real-time gas price information from more than 150,000 stations, wrote Monday.
“With the U.S. resuming its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and Ukraine systematically knocking out Russian refining capacity thousands of miles away, motorists are facing a rare double whammy: rising crude oil prices and shrinking global supply of refined products at the same time.
“I now expect the national average price of gasoline to reach $4 per gallon in the next 7-10 days, if not sooner.”