The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County dropped nine-tenths of a cent Thursday to $4.443.
The average price is 3.1 cents less than one week ago, 15.3 cents less than one month ago and 80.1 cents less than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It has dropped $1.93 since rising to a record $6.373 on Oct. 5, 2022.
The national average price dropped 1.1 cents to $3.387. It is 5.5 cents less than one week ago, 11.4 cents less than one month ago and 46.7 cents less than one year ago. The national average price has dropped $1.629 since rising to a record $5.016 on June 14, 2022.
“Gasoline and diesel prices continue to trail off across much of the country as summer demand fades away. Lower demand in other oil-consuming nations is also helping to lead the downward pressure on pump prices as we approach Labor Day,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which provides real-time gas price information from more than 150,000 stations.
“With little new action in the Middle East to rile up prices and Hurricane Ernesto remaining far out at sea, it looks like the downward trend could continue into the week ahead. As more schools begin to resume, gasoline demand will likely continue to ease. With the transition to winter gasoline less than a month away for the majority of the nation, gas prices will soon begin their seasonal cooling off, just as temperatures soon will as well.”