San Diego Gas Prices Drop 54 Times in 55 Days

Editor’s Note: Below is a report on gas prices across San Diego County. You can find the lowest gas prices in Encinitas every day by visiting the ‘Traffic & Gas’ portion of Patch.

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County fell today for the 54th time in 55 days, dropping two-tenths of a cent to $3.684, its lowest amount since Jan. 4.

The average price is 3.5 cents less than one week ago, 42.3 cents lower than one month ago and 8 cents below what it was one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

The average price has decreased 69.8 cents over the past 55 days, including four-tenths of a cent on Monday.

The dropping pump prices are the result of lower crude oil prices, according to Jeffrey Spring of the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The price of a barrel of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell to $77.28 on June 28, its low over the past year. It rose $1.54 Monday to $85.99 amid fears that a labor dispute involving Norwegian offshore oil workers could lead to a large-scale shutdown and a shortage of supplies.

The Norwegian government ordered the workers back to work after the market closed Monday. The price dropped 82 cents to $85.17 in early trading today.

Crude oil costs account for two-thirds to three-quarters of the price of a gallon of gasoline, said Tupper Hull of the Western States Petroleum Association, a trade association representing oil companies in six western states.

—City News Service