Gasoline prices are dropping by a hefty penny-a-day rate across most of California this week, according to price surveys Friday.
Averages are back under the $4 mark, hitting a statewide average of $3.917 by Friday morning, according to the American Automobile Association. June is the first month since January that California pump prices have not set a new monthly record.
“It’s been a rough first half of the year for Southland drivers who grew accustomed to paying steady gas prices between $2.90 and $3.20 a gallon throughout most of 2010,” says Jeffrey Spring, a spokesman for the Automobile Club of Southern California.
“Consumers continue to experience welcome relief at the pump as gasoline markets in the U.S. are returning to relatively lower prices,” says Matt Skryja, a spokesman for AAA Northern California.
“Gasoline demand is down over the last week after it steadily rose for the four weeks prior. Speculation about where oil demand might go for the second half of 2011 continues to cause controversy worldwide,” he says.
The U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline fell for the fifth consecutive week, dropping almost seven cents to hit $3.71 per gallon, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said this week.
The nation’s average price is $1.01 per gallon higher than last year at this time, the EIA says. The biggest decrease came in the Midwest, where prices plunged more than 13 cents on the week. Other regions saw more temperate decreases. The East Coast and West Coast both saw average gasoline prices drop more than four cents from last week. In the Rocky Mountain region, prices were down almost three cents, while the Gulf Coast registered a two-cent decrease in gasoline prices.
But Mother Nature – in the guise of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico -- may come back on stage with a bigger role in gasoline prices.
“When severe tropical weather threatens the Gulf of Mexico region, it is difficult to predict the effects on crude oil production. The level of shut-in production depends on a number of factors, including the overall intensity of severe weather, the specific track of each storm, and producers' response to the threat,” the Energy Information Administration says.
Following are the Central Valley average prices for Friday, June 17, driving from south to north, as reported by the American Automobile Association with last week’s (June 10) averages in parentheses and [June 3] prices in brackets:
• Bakersfield, $3.971 ($4.019) [$4.068]
• Visalia-Porterville, $3.933 ($3.973) [$4.050]
• Fresno, $3.879 ($3.918) [$3.963]
• Merced, $3.905 ($3.950) [$3.992]
• Modesto, $3.868 ($3.925) [$3.973]
• Stockton-Lodi, $3.834 ($3.868) [$3.938]
• Sacramento, $3.854 ($3.892) [$3.955]
• Yolo, $3.849 ($3.896) [$3.964]
• Yuba City, $3.764 ($3.816) [$3.897]
• Chico, $3.837 ($3.892) [$3.941]
The market average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area on June 17 is $3.932, which is 4.3 cents less than a week ago, the AAA says. In San Diego, it is $3.900, which is a decrease of 4.2 cents from a week ago, according to the AAA’s figures.
The only California market surveyed that has not seen its average price fall below the $4 mark on June 17 is San Francisco, which holds at $4.007 according to the AAA.
Again this week, Yuba City has California’s lowest average price. On June 17 it is $3.764, a drop of 5.2 cents since last Friday.
It seems incredible, but a volunteer price spotter for the website GasBuddy.com claims that three supermarket gas stations – in Anderson, Carmichael and Salinas – are posting a price of $3.00 on June 17.
GasBuddy says that at the other end, a gas station in Bridgeport and one in Buttonwillow are demanding $4.99 per gallon on June 17.
What might be the nation’s lowest price on June 17 is found in Greenville, S.C., at an independent station where a mere $3.19 will get you a gallon of gas, according to GasBuddy.
Methodologies
GasBuddy bases its figures on reports from volunteer “price spotters” reporting specific locations in the U.S. and Canada. They are not independently confirmed.
The AAA’s prices are market averages for self-serve regular grade (87 octane) gasoline. They are calculated daily from credit card purchases and compiled by the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
Not every station is surveyed and not every market is included in either report. Both price surveys note that there can be wide variations within any market.
Gasoline prices throughout California are higher than the national average and usually among the highest in the nation. That is due in part to taxes and a state law mandating a special blend of fuel to reduce polluting emissions.
