The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County surpassed $4 Saturday for the first time since Nov. 8, 2019, rising eight-tenths of a cent to $4.007.
The average price has risen five consecutive days and seven of the past eight, increasing 4.9 cents, including 1.3 cents Friday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It is 4.4 cents higher than one week ago, 11.5 cents more than one month ago and $1.344 greater than one year ago.
The average price has risen 83.1 cents since the start of the year, mainly because of a run of 82 increases in 84 days totaling 70.4 cents that ended March 30.
Sightly reduced gasoline production and inventories are continuing to put upward pressure on Southern California gas prices, according to Jeffrey Spring, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s corporate communications manager.
The large price increase from one year ago is the result of a significant decrease during the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic, when driving and demand dropped substantially because of stay-at-home orders intended to reduce the spread of the virus.
The average price is 5.2 cents less than it was on May 1, 2019.