Temperatures may be dropping, but gas prices aren’t.
In fact, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles area is nearing the all-time record, which was set almost exactly a year ago.
The average cost of a gallon was about $6.29 Thursday morning, up about 13 cents from Wednesday’s $6.16, according to AAA. Prices of over $7 per gallon have been spotted, garnering attention online.
A month ago, the price was almost a full dollar lower at $5.37.
About this time last year, gas prices were also on the rise, leading to the all-time L.A. record of $6.49 on Oct. 5, 2022.
Statewide, the average gallon cost about $6.03 on Thursday morning, and the nationwide average was $3.84.
So what’s behind the price hikes? It’s likely a few factors.
For one, gas-producing Libya was ravaged by fatal floods this month, lessening supply.
In addition to supply issues driving up the cost of crude oil, Tai Milder, the director of California’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature alleging that “those increases do not fully explain the increase in everyday prices that Californians pay at the pump or the increasing differential from national average prices.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Milder partially blames refiners who “did not maintain adequate levels” of gasoline this summer and did not import enough oil “to sufficiently backfill production shortfalls.”
“Intriguingly, the letter also makes specific reference to what it called ‘an unusual transaction’ on the California spot market in which gas prices rose 50 cents per gallon on Sept. 15, according to the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), a private company that provides pricing information used for commercial contracts and trades on the fuels market,” the Union-Tribune reports.
