Automobile Club of Southern California : SoCal Gas Prices Continue Up For Fourth Week

Spurred by higher oil prices and anticipation of possibly more extensive local refinery maintenance, Southern California gas station prices climbed for the fourth straight week, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch. The retail state average is $2.813 a gallon for regular today, 3.6 cents more than last Thursday.
The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $2.874 per gallon, which is 3.4 cents higher than last week, 16 cents higher than last month, and 15 cents lower than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $2.863, which is 4.2 cents higher than last week, 15 cents higher than last month, and 14 cents less than this time last year. On the Central Coast, the average price is $2.911, 5.9 cents more than last week, 19 cents higher than a month ago, and seven cents lower than last year. In the Inland Empire, the average per-gallon price is $2.817, 3.1 cents more than last week, 14 cents more than this time last month, and 18 cents less than last year.

'Oil industry analysts expect scheduled maintenance at local refineries to start later this month, which will reduce their production capacity and usually leads to big jumps in Southern California pump prices each year,' said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. 'The usual 'spring spike' was very brief in 2016, but it could be more intense this year since analysts expect more refinery maintenance will be performed.'

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Jan. 12, averages are:

Area	Regular	1-week change	Record Price
Los Angeles - Long Beach	$2.874	+3.4 cents	$4.705 (10/9/12)
Orange County	$2.868	+2.7 cents	$4.690 (10/8/12)
San Diego	$2.863	+4.2 cents	$4.725 (10/8/12)
Santa Barbara - Santa Maria - Lompoc	$2.911	+5.9 cents	$4.709 (6/21/08)
Riverside - San Bernardino	$2.817	+3.1 cents	$4.688 (10/8/12)
Ventura	$2.846	+3.8 cents	$4.689 (10/7/12)
Bakersfield	$2.789	+3.5 cents	$4.648 (10/9/12)