The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County dropped two-tenths of a cent Saturday to $3.176, after increasing for nine of the previous 10 days.

The average price is 2.3 cents more than one week ago and 5.8 cents more than one month ago, but 32.5 cents less than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

The recent rising pump prices were caused by “gains last week in the wholesale market despite a 22% lower demand for gasoline in Western states for the week ending Dec. 19, according to Oil Price Information Service,” said Marie Montgomery, a public relations specialist with the Automobile Club of Southern California.

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