The average price for a gallon of unleaded self-serve gasoline in Southern California dropped 6 cents a gallon in August, not quite canceling out July’s 10 cents per gallon price hike, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.
The Southern California average price for a gallon of unleaded fuel is $1.66 a gallon, compared with $1.72 in July. A gallon of unleaded cost $1.62 in June. The all-time high for a gallon of unleaded was $1.79 in April.
Huntington Beach continues to be where some of Southern California’s lowest gas prices can be found with an average price of $1.49 a gallon, a decrease of 10 cents a gallon since July. The average price for Northern California is $1.85 for regular unleaded. San Francisco drivers pay an average of $1.96 a gallon, while the average is $1.77 in Sacramento and $1.67 in Las Vegas.
The national average gas prices for self-serve regular unleaded in the last six months were: July, $1.57 per gallon; June, $1.63; May, $1.46; April, $1.49; March, $1.54; and February, $1.37. Nationally, average fuel prices for regular unleaded fell 8 cents a gallon in August to $1.50 a gallon, still 24 cents higher than a year ago. Oil prices generally declined in August because oil companies were able to do a better job of meeting the demand for various summer-grade, cleaner-burning fuels. The long-term outlook, however, is uncertain because of low inventories of crude oil in the United States.