Average price of gas in LA area goes up 49 times in past 54 days
The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles area is now $5.64.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- You may have already noticed but gas prices in Southern California are climbing. In fact, they've gone up 49 times in the past 54 days.
As of Friday, the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles area is now $5.64. In Orange County, it's $5.63, and over in Riverside, drivers are paying $5.52.
"California is the most expensive state in the country, unfortunately," said Marie Montgomery, a spokesperson for the Automobile Club of Southern California.
She's not a fan of bestowing that title, but over the years, Californians have been getting used to it. Still - they're not fans of it.
"We've had the fastest one-week jump just in this last week," said Montgomery.
But why? Well, AAA says it's the usual excuse: some of California's regional refineries went offline, and because California has a special fuel blend, replacing that gas is pricey.
"The replacement gasoline has to actually be made overseas and shipped to Southern California, which of course, is very expensive," said Montgomery.
Meanwhile, the national average price rose eight-tenths of a cent to $3.866, the eighth consecutive increase since a run of six decreases in seven days totaling 2.4 cents ended Sept. 7 when it was unchanged.
The national average price is 5.8 cents more than one week ago, four-tenths of a cent higher than one month ago and 16.8 cents above what it was one year ago. It has dropped $1.15 since rising to a record $5.016 on June 14, 2022.
City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.
