LA Auto Club: Gasoline Prices Turn Upward After Five-Week Decline

    LOS ANGELES--Aug. 9, 2002--After five weeks of slow but steady declines, gasoline prices bumped upward in the past week, according to the Weekend Gas Watch, compiled by the Automobile Club of Southern California.
    The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline at popular destinations for motoring trips.
    Currently, the average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $1.618 per gallon, which is 2.5 cents higher than last week's price, eight-tenths of a cent lower than last month and 3 cents lower than prices at this time last year.
    In San Diego the price is $1.646, which is 2.7 cents higher than last week's level, the same as last month and 10 cents lower than last year. Motorists in the central coast have an average price of $1.696, which is 1.6 cents above last week's price, 1 cent below last month and 6 cents under the price last year.
    "During the last part of July and the beginning of August, wholesale gasoline prices saw a little rally and now we're experiencing the upward bump in prices resulting from that," said Auto Club spokesperson Carol Thorp.
    "Currently, refiners in California are producing more gasoline than they were at this time last year, so within the next week or so we would expect to see prices resume their downward trend."

Average prices as of 12:01 a.m., Aug. 9:

Area                        Regular    Change from    Record Price
                                        last week

Los Angeles-Long Beach      $1.618      +2.5 cents    $2.036 (5/25/01)

San Diego                   $1.646      +2.7 cents    $2.025 (5/29/01)

Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-
Lompoc                      $1.696      +1.6 cents    $2.069 (5/16/01)

Las Vegas                   $1.506      +0.3 cents    $1.885 (3/27/00)

Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.         $1.437      -0.8 cents    $1.720 (5/30/01)