Gasoline Prices Near Murrieta Rise Sharply

An increase in wholesale prices caused by fears of a decrease in supply resulting from refinery problems caused the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Inland Empire to rise 1.8 cents Friday to $2.735.

Refinery issues created a 15-cent jump in Los Angeles wholesale prices on Wednesday, according to Jeffrey Spring, the Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate communications manager.

“PBF Energy, which owns the former ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, reported Wednesday that it is now running at 75 percent capacity after a power outage caused a complete shutdown Sept. 19,” Spring said. "In addition, Chevron's El Segundo refinery reportedly has experienced issues."

The daily increase is the largest in Riverside and San Bernardino counties since a 1.8-cent rise on Sept 10, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

The average price is 2 cents more than one week ago and 7.8 cents higher than one month ago but 28.3 cents less than one year ago.

– By City News Service / Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone