The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County rose Tuesday to its highest amount since Oct. 24, 2012, with further increases expected.
The average price rose seventh-tenths of a cent to $4.332, one day after remaining unchanged, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It is 1.5 cents more than one week and one month ago and $1.184 higher than one year ago.
The average price has risen $1.156 since the start of the year because of higher oil prices and increased demand for gasoline following the end of pandemic-related restrictions.
OPEC and a Russia-led group of oil producers agreed Monday to maintain its schedule of increasing oil production by 400,000 barrels a day each month. With the end of the possibility of doubling the increase to 800,000 barrels a day, the price of a barrel of West Texas intermediate crude rose on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $77.62 per barrel, its highest amount since 2014.
Crude oil costs account for slightly more than half of the pump price, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The record gas price is $4.688 set on Oct. 8, 2012, which also included stations in San Bernardino County.