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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The average prices of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles and Orange counties rose today to their highest amounts since Oct. 23, 2012, with further increases expected.
The Los Angeles County average price rose four-tenths of a cent, a day after rising three-tenths of a cent, to $4.426, according to figures from the AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. It is 1.7 cents more than one week ago, 2 cents higher than one month ago and $1.228 greater than one year ago.
The average price has risen $1.23 since the start of the year because of higher oil prices and increased demand for gasoline following the end of pandemic-related restrictions.
The Orange County average price rose eight-tenths of a cent to $4.395. It is 3 cents more than one week ago, 2.8 cents higher than one month ago and $1.233 greater than one year ago.
The Orange County average price has risen $1.187 since the start of the year.
The price of a barrel of West Texas intermediate crude rose on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $77.62 per barrel Tuesday, its highest amount since 2014, in continued response to OPEC and a Russia-led group of oil producers agreeing Monday to maintain their schedule of increasing oil production by 400,000 barrels a day each month instead of doubling the increase to 800,000 barrels a day as some in the industry had speculated.
Crude oil costs account for slightly more than half of the pump price, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The Los Angeles County record gas price is $4.705, set Oct. 9, 2012. The Orange County record is $4.69, set Oct. 8, 2012.
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