Auto Club: SoCal Gas Prices Start Backing Down After Spike

Southern California gas prices continued increasing until early this week, then began backing down in the last few days after spiking by more than 20 cents, according to the Auto Club's Weekend Gas Watch. The average price for self-serve regular gasoline in California is $4.68, which is one cent lower than last week and 19 cents higher than a year ago today. The average national price is $3.08, which is the same as a week ago and also the same as on this date last year.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $4.85 per gallon, which is the same as last week and 37 cents more than last year. In San Diego, the average price is $4.90, which is one cent lower than last week and 36 cents higher than the price this time last year.

On the Central Coast, the average price is $4.74, which is the same as last week and 23 cents higher than last year. In Riverside, the average per-gallon price is $4.71, which is the same as last week and 38 cents higher than a year ago. In Bakersfield, the $4.62 average price is one cent lower than last week and 16 cents higher than a year ago today.

"Los Angeles wholesale gasoline prices continue to be volatile as some local refinery maintenance continues, so it's hard to know if this is a pause or a genuine downward trend," said Auto Club spokesperson Doug Shupe. "Oil Price Information Service expects gas prices nationally to drop as we head toward the Thanksgiving holiday and the colder time of year when demand typically drops, but California does not always follow the national price trend."

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Nov. 13, averages are: