Gasoline Price Continues Sliding: Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — It's been several years since Riverside County motorists have seen gasoline prices dip below $3 a gallon. Given current conditions, there's no reason to think drivers will need to shell out more in the near term, according to AAA.

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County dropped Friday to its lowest amount since Dec. 30, 2016, decreasing 1.1 cents to $2.746.

The average price has dropped 44 consecutive days, decreasing 72 cents, including 1.7 cents on Thursday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. The streak is the longest since a 51-day run from Nov. 4-Dec. 24, 2019.

The average price is 9.1 cents less than one week ago, 56.3 cents lower than one month ago and $1.26 below what it was one year ago. It has decreased 76.2 cents since the start of the year.

The 2016 average included stations in San Bernardino County.

"At this time last year, prices rose to over $4 per gallon because of refinery issues," said Jeffrey Spring, the Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate communications manager. "Today prices are more than 25 percent lower because demand continues to fall, and gasoline inventories continue to increase."

Californians and Riverside County drivers, however, are still paying more at the pump than motorists in nearly all other parts of the country. The Golden State and Hawaii remain the most expensive markets in the nation, according to AAA.

Nationwide, the gas price average has steadily declined for seven weeks, pushing the average cheaper by 61-cents to $1.86 on Monday. Since late February, U.S. demand for gasoline has decreased 44 percent to 5 million barrels a day as gasoline inventories build across the country.

“We are seeing fast and furious gasoline demand destruction. The latest data reveals demand levels not seen since spring of 1968,” Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson said Mondy. “Every U.S. region is seeing builds in gasoline inventories and crude storage, which is just driving pump prices even cheaper.”

As part of a new production reduction agreement reached last weekend, OPEC and its allies expect total global oil cuts to amount to more than 20 million barrels a day or 20 percent of global supply.

The production cuts take effect May 1 and are expected to ease in June, but some restrictions will remain in place through April 2022, according to AAA.

Crude prices will likely remain volatile, as the market assesses if the production cuts are sufficient to hold back growing global crude inventories as COVID-19 continues to push down demand.

—City News Service contributed to this report.