Riverside County gas prices remain steady following price-positive month
The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County was unchanged today, remaining at $3.596, one day after dropping two-tenths of a cent.
The average price is 1.1 cents less than one week ago and 9.9 cents lower than one month ago but 74.4 cents more than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It has risen 52.3 cents since the start of the year.
The increasing price for oil is “the basic reason that gas prices have been so much higher than in 2017,” Marie Montgomery of the Automobile Club of Southern California told City News Service.
“Oil prices have moved up significantly in the last two weeks to their highest levels since 2014 because worldwide demand is strong,” Montgomery said.
“Although Saudi Arabia has pledged to increase production, Iran sanctions as well as some oil distribution problems from Canada to the U.S. are reportedly causing supply worries. Also Venezuelan oil production has plummeted, leaving a gap in worldwide supply.”
Crude oil costs account for two-thirds to three-quarters of the price of a gallon of gasoline, according to the Western States Petroleum Association, a trade association representing oil companies in six western states.
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