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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County dropped today for the seventh consecutive day after hitting a record high, decreasing three-tenths of a cent to $4.693.
The average price has dropped 2.3 cents over the past seven days, including six-tenths of a cent Friday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. The streak of decreases follows a run of 16 increases in 18 days totaling 12.5 cents that boosted the average price to a record $4.716 last Saturday.
Despite the streak of decreases, the average price is 10.3 cents more than one week ago and $1.54 higher than one year ago.
The Orange County average price dropped for the seventh time in eight days since moving within one-tenth of a cent of matching its record high, dropping one-tenth of a cent to $4.665. It has dropped 2.4 cents over the past eight days, including four-tenths of cent Friday.
The Orange County average price is 1.9 cents less than one week ago but 11.8 cents more than one month ago and $1.535 greater than one year ago.
The dropping pump prices are the result of a significant drop in the price of crude oil and ``because this is traditionally the time of year with the lowest demand,'' said Jeffrey Spring, the Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate communications manager.
The price of a barrel of West Texas intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange has dropped 21.72% from its 52-week high of $84.65 hit Oct. 26, 2021, to $66.26 Friday.
Crude oil costs account for slightly more than half of the pump price, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.