The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County dropped 1.3 cents Tuesday to $4.583, a day after dropping three-tenths of a cent.
The average price is 8.9 cents less than one week ago, 12.5 cents less than one month ago and 26.1 cents less than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It has dropped $1.79 since rising to a record $6.373 on Oct. 5, 2022.
The national average price rose one-tenth of a cent to $3.502, a day after it was unchanged.
It is 1.3 cents less than one week ago, 5.5 cents more than one month ago, and 9.2 cents less than one year ago. The national average price has dropped $1.514 since rising to a record $5.016 on June 14, 2022.
“Most of the country has seen a reprieve from rising gasoline prices, thanks to weaker-than-expected gasoline demand, building supplies and a quiet period in the tropics,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which provides real-time gas price information from more than 150,000 stations.
“While a good portion of the nation saw average gas prices decline, severe weather completely knocked out power to a major refinery outside Chicago early last week, immediately impacting gasoline supplies to Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, and pushing prices up considerably.
“We’ve often said how critical refineries are, and with a long power outage, we’re seeing the impact very quickly, but relief will eventually arrive. For now, as we approach the end of summer vacations, I’m hopeful gas prices will continue to edge slightly lower in the week ahead.”