Southern California Gas Prices Drop; Long-Term Price Outlook Uncertain
16 August 2000
LOS ANGELES - The average price for a gallon of unleaded self-serve gasoline in Southern California dropped 6 cents a gallon in August, not quite canceling out July's 10 cents per gallon price hike, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.
The Southern California average price for a gallon of unleaded fuel is $1.66 a gallon, compared with $1.72 in July. A gallon of unleaded cost $1.62 in June. The all-time average high for a gallon of unleaded was $1.79 in April.
Huntington Beach continues to be where some of Southern California's lowest gas prices can be found with an average price of $1.49 a gallon, a decrease of 10 cents a gallon since July.
The average price for Northern California is $1.85 for regular unleaded. San Francisco drivers pay an average of $1.96 a gallon, while the average is $1.77 in Sacramento and $1.67 in Las Vegas.
Nationally, average fuel prices for regular unleaded fell 8 cents a gallon in August to $1.50 a gallon, still 24 cents higher than a year ago.
Oil prices generally declined in August because oil companies were able to do a better job of meeting the demand for the various summer-grade, cleaner burning fuels. The long-term outlook, however, is uncertain because of low inventories of crude oil in the United States.
The decrease in inventories could be attributed to a rise in crude oil prices to as much as $32.50 a barrel. OPEC nations have said they favor a $25 per barrel price, but they have not been able to meet that to date. OPEC's next meeting is Sept. 11 in Vienna.
In Southern California, the averages for regular and premium grades of gasoline are listed below:
County Unl Pre Imperial County El Centro 1.796 2.059 Inyo County Bishop 1.924 2.044 Kern County Bakersfield 1.719 1.869 Ridgecrest 1.804 1.947 Los Angeles County Alhambra 1.553 1.736 Arcadia 1.563 1.709 Burbank 1.570 1.790 Culver City 1.629 1.812 Glendale 1.573 1.772 Glendora 1.586 1.759 Inglewood 1.573 1.749 Lancaster 1.627 1.829 Long Beach 1.570 1.745 Los Angeles 1.588 1.763 Manhattan Beach 1.606 1.805 Montebello 1.598 1.812 Santa Monica 1.621 1.789 Van Nuys 1.556 1.718 Whittier 1.550 1.756 Woodland Hills 1.610 1.760 Orange County Anaheim 1.576 1.751 Fullerton 1.596 1.799 Huntington Beach 1.491 1.699 La Habra 1.532 1.689 Laguna Beach 1.659 1.843 Newport Beach 1.662 1.859 San Clemente 1.716 1.922 Tustin 1.569 1.687 Riverside County Blythe 1.825 1.963 Hemet 1.671 1.849 Palm Springs 1.706 1.859 Riverside 1.548 1.726 Redlands 1.629 1.779 San Bernardino 1.597 1.724 Victorville 1.635 1.842 San Diego County Chula Vista 1.672 1.849 Del Mar 1.757 1.929 Escondido 1.680 1.868 Oceanside 1.676 1.877 San Diego 1.690 1.866 San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo 1.668 1.859 Santa Barbara County Lompoc 1.809 1.956 Santa Barbara 1.809 1.959 Santa Maria 1.717 1.924 Tulare County Porterville 1.818 1.934 Visalia 1.830 2.013 Ventura 1.694 1.847 So. Calif. Avg. 1.656 1.831
The Auto Club's Fuel Gauge Report is based on data gathered from monitoring fuel transactions at 2,800 Southern California gas stations. Oil Price Information Service -- the nation's most comprehensive course of petroleum pricing information, provides the data.