SAN DIEGO — The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County rose Tuesday for the 22nd consecutive day and 27th time in 28 days, increasing 1.5 cents to $5.31, its highest amount since Nov. 6.
*Video above is from March 25, 2024
The average price has risen 39.9 cents over the past 28 days, including one-tenth of a cent Monday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It rose for five consecutive days, was unchanged on March 18 and resumed increasing on March 19.
The average price is 15.6 cents more than one week ago, 39.1 cents higher than one month ago and 38.4 cents greater than one year ago. It has dropped $1.125 since rising to a record $6.435 on Oct. 5, 2022.
The national average price rose for the seventh consecutive day, increasing 1 cent to $3.608. It has risen 7.3 cents over the past seven days, including a half-cent Monday.
The national average price is 21.1 cents more than one month ago and seven-tenths of a cent higher than one year ago. It has dropped $1.408 since rising to a record $5.016 on June 14, 2022.
"After a brief break, gas prices have leapt back up, driven by extensive refinery maintenance on the West Coast, where prices have increased notably," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which provides real-time gas price information from more than 150,000 stations.
"Only a handful of states have seen prices decline over the last week.," De Haan said. "With oil prices rising to nearly $87 per barrel last week, their highest since October, we are not only facing the seasonal factors that push prices up - - refinery maintenance, the switch to summer gasoline, and rising demand -- but also escalating crude oil prices as OPEC's production cuts continue to cause declining global oil inventories, with escalations between Iran and Israel adding to concerns of further destabilization."
"The West Coast is likely to see gas prices continue to jump, and in a week or so, will be joined by the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states as they wrap up the transition to summer gasoline."
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