Pain at pump eases for San Diegans in time for Labor Day — but may be short

Aug 24, 2023

A 35-day streak of increases to the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County totaling 41.9 cents ended Tuesday when it dropped four-tenths of a cent to $5.364.

The streak was the longest since a 35-day run from Feb. 23-March 29, 2022, according to figures from the AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

The average price is 2.6 cents more than one week ago, 32.2 cents higher than one month ago and 12.1 cents above what it was one year ago. It has dropped $1.071 since rising to a record $6.435 on Oct. 5.

The national average price rose four-tenths of a cent to $3.823, one day after a 10-day streak of decreases totaling 5.7 cents ended with an increase of one-tenth of a cent. It is 3.1 cents less than one week ago and 2.7 cents lower than one year ago but 7.7 cents more than one month ago.

The national average price has dropped $1.193 since rising to a record $5.016 on June 14, 2022.

"For the first time in weeks, the national average price of gasoline has fallen over the last week as the wholesale price of gasoline has been under seasonal pressure as we near the end of the summer driving season," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which provides real- time gas price information from more than 150,000 stations.

"However, the drop may be short-lived, as one of the nation's largest refineries partially shut last week after a fire at a storage tank, and as we see more tropical activity that could lead to further disruption."