Californians, on average, are now paying more for gasoline than anyone in the nation after a run-up of more than 20 cents in most local areas over the past week, according to price surveys Friday.
“As we get closer to the $4 a gallon mark, it’s interesting to note that average prices are becoming much closer between all the cities in California, even though there is usually at least a 15-cent gap in average prices between the lowest and highest-priced areas,” says Jeffrey Spring, a spokesman for the Automobile Club of Southern California.
The average price for a gallon on self-serve regular (87 octane) in California on Friday March 4 is $3.845. That’s higher than the two states that are usually at the top of the list -- Hawaii’s $3.836 and Alaska’s $3.800. The national average price is a paltry $3.471, according to the American Automobile Association.
A year ago, Californians were paying an average of $3.027 per gallon.
Here are Central Valley market averages on March 4, driving from south to north, as reported by the American Automobile Association with last week’s (Feb. 25) averages in parentheses and [Feb. 18] prices in brackets:
The market average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area on March 4 is $3.853, which is 18.8 cents higher than a week ago, the AAA says. In San Diego, it is $3.869, which is an increase of 19 cents in a week’s time, according to the AAA’s figures.
The highest market average in California on March 4 is in San Francisco at $3.899, an increase of 18.8 cents in one week, according to the AAA’s figures.
Chico’s average of $3.784 may not seem cheap, but it’s the lowest in California on March 4, the AAA says.
The lowest price found in California on March 4 is $3.45, found by the website GasBuddy.com, at a big box store’s pumps in Fountain Valley.
Four-dollar gas? That’s soooo yesterday. Try $5. That’s the price demanded by a Mobil station in Woodland Hills, says GasBuddy.
But its price spotters have found dozens of gas stations around the state where the lowest price is $4 or higher.
A gas station in Cheyenne, Wyo., may have the lowest price in the nation on March 4 -- $2.88 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.
Methodologies
GasBuddy bases its figures on reports from volunteer “price spotters” reporting specific locations in the U.S. and Canada. They are not independently confirmed.
The AAA’s prices are market averages for self-serve regular grade (87 octane) gasoline. They are calculated daily from credit card purchases and compiled by the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
Not every station is surveyed and not every market is included in either report. Both price surveys note that there can be wide variations within any market.
Gasoline prices throughout California are higher than the national average and usually among the highest in the nation. That is due in part to taxes and a state law mandating a special blend of fuel to reduce polluting emissions.
