Slight drop for Inland Empire gas price

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in the Inland Empire dropped three-tenths of a cent Friday to $2.81, one day after rising one-tenth of a cent.

The average price in Riverside and San Bernardino counties is seven-tenths of a cent lower than one week ago and 6.8 cents less than one year ago but 13.3 cents higher than one month ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

“Los Angeles wholesale gasoline prices have dropped by about 30 cents in the last two weeks due to ample supplies, which usually would push prices downward more sharply than the slight decreases we’ve seen in the past week,” said Jeffrey Spring, the Automobile Club of Southern California’s corporate communications manager.

“However, oil industry analysts expect local refineries are beginning this week to take production units offline for maintenance, so excess supply could be used up quickly and wholesale prices could change direction again.”