LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County dropped for the 35th consecutive day today, decreasing a half-cent to $3.038 -- its lowest amount since Aug. 29, 2017.
The average price is 9.7 cents less than a week ago, 49.9 cents lower than a month ago and 74.8 cents less than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It has dropped 57.5 cents since the start of the year.
The Orange County average price dropped for the 40th straight day, falling six-tenths of cent to $3.017, its lowest amount since Oct. 21, 2017. It is 8.1 cents less than one week ago, 47.6 cents lower than one month ago and 72.8 cents less than one year ago. It has dropped 52.2 cents since the start of the year.
The sharp increase in oil prices won't affect gasoline prices in Southern California “for some time,” according to Jeffrey Spring, the Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate communications manager.
“Although prices jumped in the past three days, they are still about half of what they were at the beginning of the year,” Spring told City News Service. “They jumped on the hope that Russia, Saudi Arabia (and now the U.S.) can agree on production cuts. If they can't in the next few days, prices may drop again.
“Demand is still very weak. OPIS is estimating that demand in the Western U.S. has been nearly halved compared to this time last year. As long as production is decreasing and inventories are increasing, I think we'll see these low prices at least for the next few weeks.”
U.S. crude oil closed up $3.68, or 14.5%, to $29 a barrel Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, one day after increasing $5.01, 25%, to $25.32 a barrel, its sharpest percentage gain on record, according to a Dow Jones Market Data analysis of figures going back to 1983.
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