Gas Prices Drop in Time for July 4th Weekend

Good news for weekend warriors who plan on doing a little traveling this holiday: Gas prices have fallen nearly 8 cents , and a gallon is 25 cents lower than last month in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

In La Cañada Flintridge, the low price on Friday was $3.72 a gallon at the at 550 Foothill Blvd., according to Gasbuddy.com.

Spokesperson Jeffrey Spring attributes the drop to the federal government’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

“Prices came down a little more quickly this week, perhaps because of last week’s Obama administration announcement that it is releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” said Spring.

It's still not cheap

Despite the recent drop in gas prices, one gallon still costs 69 cents more than it did this time last year. Spring said this will keep more people at home this weekend.

“The Auto Club is predicting that 2.29 million of the 2.9 million local Independence Day travelers will go by car. That’s a 2.9 percent decrease from last year’s car travelers over this holiday and higher gas prices are probably a major reason for the downturn.”

The record price for this week was set in 2008, when gas was averaging $4.63 a gallon in our area.

Here’s a peek at what gas is averaging around Southern California right now.

• Los Angeles-Long Beach $3.82 per gallon
• Orange County $3.79 per gallon
• Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc $3.86 per gallon
• Riverside-San Bernardino $3.79
• Bakersfield $3.87
• Ventura $3.81