Rancho Santa Margarita Gas Prices Spike a Dollar: Find the Cheapest Gas Near You

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Orange County rose today for the 31st consecutive day, increasing three-tenths of a cent to $3.492, its highest amount since Oct. 21.

The Orange County average price has increased $1.06 during the streak, including 2.8 cents on Sunday. In Rancho Santa Margarita, the cheapest gas can be found at the Shell station on 30114 Santa Margarita Pkwy where a gallon of gas costs $3.44.

The Orange County average price is 43.3 cents higher than one week ago and $1.036 more than one month ago. However, it is 43.9 cents lower than one year ago thanks to 23 decreases in 24 days immediately before the current string of increases began.

The streak of increases is the longest since a 32-day streak from Feb. 6- March 9, 2014.

The increasing prices are the result of reduced supply, stemming from the customary first-quarter refinery maintenance connected with the switch to production of summer blend gasoline, combined with outages at several refineries and a strike by refinery workers represented by United Steelworkers.

• City News Service

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