California’s gasoline prices soared to new 2009 records this week, but then slightly backed down, according to two price surveys.
“Reports of scaled-back production in California refineries helped cause a rise in wholesale prices, which quickly made its way to consumers at the pump,” says Jeffrey Spring, a spokesman for the Automobile Club of Southern California. “However, we seem to be back at a plateau again as prices in the rest of the country continue to head downward.”
Prices are roughly 50-60 cents less per gallon than a year ago. Crude oil prices are also well below year-ago levels, closing Thursday at $72.47 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, although that price is about double the figure for mid-March.
Nationally, pump prices are in a slow retreat, with the 50-state average dropping to $2.550 as of Friday morning. California’s state average of $3.161 on Friday is topped only by prices in Hawaii and Alaska.
Here are Central Valley market averages on Sept. 18, driving from south to north, as reported by the American Automobile Association with last week’s (Sept. 11) averages in parentheses and [Sept. 4] prices in brackets:
• Bakersfield, $3.205 ($3.173) [$3.119]
• Visalia-Porterville, $3.217 ($3.165) [$3.095]
• Fresno, $3.199 ($3.158) [$3.094]
• Merced, $3.184 ($3.144) [$3.068]
• Modesto, $3.117 ($3.103) [$3.017]
• Stockton-Lodi, $3.137 ($3.091) [$3.027]
• Sacramento, $3.158 ($3.129) [$3.049]
• Yolo, $3.134 ($3.122) [$3.032]
• Chico, $3.130 ($3.101) [$3.026]
The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area on Sept. 18 is $3.137, which is 2.4 cents higher than a week ago. In San Diego, the price is $3.148, which is 1.6 cents higher than last week’s price.
San Francisco continues to have California’s highest market average price at $3.248 on Sep. 18, which is 2.5 cents higher than a week ago, the AAA says.
The highest price reported in California on Sept. 18 by the volunteer price spotters of the website GasBuddy.com is $4.09 at a Shell gas station in Bridgeport.
The lowest market average price in California on Sept. 18 is in Modesto at $3.117, the AAA says.
The lowest non-membership California price found by GasBuddy on Sept. 18 is $2.77 per gallon at a convenience store in Turlock.
What might be the nation’s lowest price -- $2.09 per gallon – is found on Sept. 18 at a Hess gas station in Spartanburg, S.C., by a volunteer price spotter for the website GasBuddy.com.
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.
