Gasoline Price Drops For 17th Time in 18 Days Near Murrieta

By City News Service:

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Inland Empire dropped two-tenths of a cent Monday to $2.801, the 17th decrease in 18 days.

The average price in Riverside and San Bernardino counties has dropped 23.4 cents over the past 18 days, including 1.5 cents on Sunday, and is 10.8 cents less than a week ago and 12 cents lower than one month ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

However, the average price is 38.3 cents higher than one year ago due to a 20-day streak of increases totaling 36.2 cents that ended on Jan. 7.

“We are basically back to ‘normal,”’ said Allison Mac, a petroleum analyst with GasBuddy, which bills itself as the nation’s leading provider of retail fuel pricing information and data.

“Prices started to go up on Dec. 16, 2015, because of the number of refinery issues. Refinery issues affect production, which puts a strain on supply. Prices continued to climb until Jan. 6 (when) refinery issues started to get resolved, leading to (an) increase in production.

“Additionally, imports started to pick up as well. There is no longer a strain in supply, which is causing prices to drop.”