The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County rose 2.7 cents Saturday to $4.681, one day after rising 3.8 cents for its largest increase since Oct. 1.
The average price is the highest it’s been since Dec. 6, and is 13 cents more than one week ago and 30.4 cents higher than one month ago, but 1.7 cents less than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.
It has increased for 18 straight days, but is still $1.692 less than the record $6.373 on Oct. 5, 2022.
“Oil Price Information Service reports that the Wilmington portion of the Phillips 66 Los Angeles refinery reported unplanned flaring last week and several other West Coast refineries are having issues, while the California Energy Commission reported significantly lower inventories of gasoline last week,” said Doug Shupe, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s corporate communications manager.
“This time last year in Southern California, gas prices were breaking records almost every day due to inflation and higher oil prices in the ramp-up to the Russia-Ukraine war. Unfortunately, today’s average prices are very similar to this time last year because Southern California’s gas price averages remained well above $4 a gallon even at their lowest point of 2022.”
The national average price dropped four-tenths of a cent to $3.417. It is seven-tenths of a cent less than one week ago, 5.8 cents more than one month ago, and 11.1 cents less than one year ago. The national average price has dropped $1.599 since rising to a record $5.016 on June 14.