Streak of Rising Gasoline Prices Ends in Orange County

A 13-day streak of increases ended Thursday when the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Orange County remained unchanged. However, the average price rose one-tenth of a cent today to $3.807.

The Orange County average price is 5.9 cents more than one week ago, 4.1 cents higher than one month ago and a half-cent greater than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

“With oil prices still hovering around $90 a barrel, there was still some upward pressure on gas prices in the last week,” said Jeffrey Spring of the Automobile Club of Southern California. “However, prices in some California markets have ticked downward or stayed steady in the last day or two, so it's hard to know what the next week will bring.”

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In Los Angeles County, a 14-day streak of increases ended today when the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline fell one-tenth of a cent to $3.829.

The average price increased 13.8 cents during the streak, including two-tenths of a cent on Thursday. Despite the slight decrease, the average price is 5.2 cents more than one week ago, 2 cents higher than one month ago and 1 cent greater than one
month ago.

The price of a barrel of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 42 cents to $89.39 on Thursday.

Crude oil costs account for two-thirds to three-quarters of the price of a gallon of gasoline, said Tupper Hall of the Western States Petroleum Association, a trade association representing oil companies in six western states.