Average San Diego County gas prices aren’t going down, but staying stable

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County dropped one-tenth of a cent Friday, the seventh time in eight days it has changed by one-tenth of a cent or been unchanged.

The average price of $4.624 is four-tenths of a cent less than one week ago but three-tenths of a cent more than one month ago and $1.274 higher than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

The average price was unchanged Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, dropped one-tenth of a cent last Friday, Saturday and Monday, rose one-tenth of a cent Sunday and dropped two-tenths of a cent Thursday.

While the average price has dropped 4.6 cents since rising to $4.67 on Nov. 28, its highest amount since Oct. 12, 2012, increases are expected in a few weeks with the start of the traditional “spring spike” season that typically brings increases averaging 50 cents a gallon, according to Jeffrey Spring, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s corporate communications manager.

“Not counting 2020, when the pandemic shut down gas demand, the typical Los Angeles spring gas price spike since 2017 is about 54 cents per gallon, ranging from a low of 21 cents in 2017 to a high of 86 cents in 2019,” Spring said.

“Given the lack of relief in pump prices due to continued high oil prices, it’s increasingly likely that Southern California gas prices will reach new record highs sometime in the next few months.”