2018 Gas Prices Increase Across California: AAA

Will Californians pay in excess of $4 per gallon of gasoline by this time next year? In 2018, drivers are starting the year by paying an average of $3.11 per gallon of regular unleaded self serve gasoline. That may be more or less in your neighborhood, but the precedent of rising gasoline prices has been set, according to the Automobile Association of America.

Four years ago, the last time prices rose to over $4 per gallon, sent most drivers into sticker shock. How did costs get that high? According to a AAA spokesperson, that year began with the gasoline prices starting at $3.62 per gallon for regular, unleaded self serve gasoline. In 2018, the golden state is not far behind starting point.

Though prices are slated to decline once the holiday season ends, the barrel costs are up, AAA said. Oil prices stabilized in 2017, with prices for a barrel hovering around $50 much of the year. However, late in the year prices rose, and 2018 began with costs over $60 a barrel, a 2-year high.

"With global oil producers trying to scale back their production, supply could drop while demand for energy remains high," Blasky said. That would only increase gas prices in order to meet the demand. Recently, President Donald Trump has stated that he will push for ocean drilling off the coast of California. The five-year plan would open new areas of oil and gas exploration off both coasts, if he succeeds.

Even with higher prices, that doesn't stop Californians from turning the key and getting where they need to go. The majority of California drivers spend hundreds of hours a year in their cars.

“The amount of time the average driver spends behind the wheel each year is equivalent to seven 40-hour weeks at the office,” says Jurek Grabowski, research director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “It’s clear that traveling by car remains a central part of American’s lives.”

That equates to almost 300 hours a year, which adds up in your annual price tag at the pump.

Reports show that in the Los Angeles county area, average gas prices have risen to $3.16 per gallon. That's one cent higher than one week ago and 34-cents more than this time last year.

As for northern California, the average price of regular, self serve gasoline is hovering at $3.23 per gallon. San Francisco residents are paying the highest prices for gas in Northern California, roughly 3 cents more than motorists in South Lake Tahoe, which normally tops the charts for the region, according to AAA reports.

Not to say that January gas prices indicate the trend for the entire year.

Historically, in 2015, Californians paid $2.55 for regular unleaded gasoline, and by May of that year, prices rocketed to $3.70 per gallon.

So what is in store for gas prices in 2018?

“We closed out 2017 with a statewide annual average price of $3.01 – the second-lowest annual California average price in the last five years and the third-lowest in the last decade,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. ”There’s a good chance that drivers will spend more to fill up in 2018 than in the last couple of years, just based on the additional 12-cent state sales tax that was imposed on gasoline Nov. 1.”

Will we top $4 when we top off in 2019? Keep your eye on Patch gasoline reports throughout the coming months.

Historic California Annual Average Price

• 2008 - $3.53
• 2009 - $2.68
• 2010 - $3.10
• 2011 - $3.82
• 2012 - $4.03
• 2013 - $3.88
• 2014 - $3.75
• 2015 - $3.16
• 2016 - $2.72
• 2017 -$3.01

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