Gas prices recently increased across the Coachella Valley, but they're still on par with what drivers paid a year ago.
Automobile Club of Southern California spokeswoman Marie Montgomery estimates drivers in Palm Springs are paying an average of $3.05 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas.
Prices have edged up about four cents in the past week, Montgomery said.
A year ago, the average was $3.04 a gallon. And in early June, as the summer driving season began, it was $3.08.
“This year we had extreme price stability,” Montgomery said. “There still isn't a lot of movement on the averages.”
The most recent increase, which kicked in about two weeks ago, is attributed to increasing demand for heating oil as temperatures drop around the country, as well as a drop in the U.S. dollar, said Esmael Adibi, chief economist at Chapman University in Orange.
A barrel of oil, which sold for $75 for nearly eight weeks, increased to $82 a few days ago.
“For the last three or four weeks, the value of the dollar has been going down and that's causing some of that upward pressure on oil prices,” Adibi said.
Local gas prices may continue creeping up as winter arrives, and Adibi says it's possible they could hit $3.25 by the end of the year. A downside to the recovering economy is that demand for oil increases.
“If the economy improves, we could see higher oil prices close to $90,” he said.
For now, motorists are pumping as much gas as they can before prices go up.
“It's getting more expensive every day, that's for sure,” Palm Springs resident Simon Lennon said while pumping fuel at a Union 76 station on Sunrise Way for $3.03 per gallon Thursday. “But things could be worse; it's not like we're paying $4 again.”
