Drivers Paying Up To $28 More To Fill Their Gas Tanks

If you drive a truck around town, filling up the gas tank will cost you nearly $15 more than it did a month ago, and about $28 more than it did a year ago.

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Inland Empire rose 4.2 cents today to $3.723, after increasing 10.1 cents over the previous two days.

The 25th increase in 26 days pushed the average price in Riverside and San Bernardino counties to its highest amount since Sept. 17, 2008, and 19 cents higher than a week ago, 39.2 cents above what it was one month ago and 73.9 cents greater than it was one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

The rise equates to big dollars for local drivers. A truck with a 38-gallon fuel tank will cost nearly $15 more to fill than it did a month ago, and about $28 more to fill than it did one year ago.

A car with a 12-gallon fuel tank will cost nearly $5 more to fill than it did one month ago, and approximately $8.88 more to fill than it did one year ago.

Analysts attribute the rising prices to increasing prices for imported crude oil stemming from the unrest in the Middle East.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, which is used to price the imported oil mostly used by California refineries, on the ICE Futures exchange in London rose 72 cents Friday to $112.14.

Crude oil costs account for two-thirds to three-quarters of the price of a gallon of gasoline, according to Tupper Hull, vice president of strategic communications for the Western States Petroleum Association, a trade association representing oil companies in six western states. --City News Service contributed to this report.