Business & Tech

Gas Drops in Time for Weekend

Gas is 8 cents lower than last week, but 69 cents higher than last year.

Good news for weekend warriors who plan on doing a little traveling this Independence Day. Gas prices have fallen nearly 8 cents since last week, and a gallon is 25 cents lower than last month in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Spokesperson Jeffrey Spring attributes the drop to the federal government’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

“Prices came down a little more quickly this week, perhaps because of last week’s Obama administration announcement that it is releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” said Spring.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Despite the recent drop in gas prices, one gallon still costs 69 cents more than it did this time last year. Spring said this will keep more people at home over the weekend.

“The Auto Club is predicting that 2.29 million of the 2.9 million local Independence Day travelers will go by car. That’s a 2.9 percent decrease from last year’s car travelers over this holiday and higher gas prices are probably a major reason for the downturn.”

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The record price for this week was set in 2008, when gas was averaging $4.63 a gallon in our area.

Here’s a peek at what gas is averaging around Southern California right now.

  • Los Angeles – Long Beach: $3.82 per gallon
  • Orange County: $3.79 per gallon
  • Santa Barbara – Santa Maria - Lompoc: $3.86 per gallon
  • Riverside – San Bernardino: $3.79
  • Bakersfield: $3.87
  • Ventura: $3.81


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Montrose-La Crescenta