Different day, same price hikes.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline in Los Angeles County rose 13.3 cents Thursday for the second day in a row, matching its second-largest increase since July 14, 2015.
“Stations buying gasoline after 7 p.m. (Eastern time) will be paying roughly $2,240 less per truckload,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, which provides real-time gas price information from more than 150,000 stations, tweeted Wednesday. “The increases at the pump could wind down in the next few days unless oil markets reverse.”
LAC’s average price has risen for 16 straight days, up 99.7 cents to $5.78, its 32nd record in 34 days, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
For those keeping track: Thursday’s price is 77 cents more than a week ago, $1.037 higher than a month ago, and $1.947 greater than one year ago.
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Shifting to Orange County, the average price rose 11.3 cents to $5.76, its 31st record in 36 days. That’s 19 days in a row of increases that amount to 99.7 cents, including 13 cents Wednesday. OC’s average price is 76.7 cents more than a week ago, $1.035 higher than a month ago, and $1.929 greater than one year ago.
Motorists in Riverside County saw prices jump 11 cents Thursday to $5.66. Prices notched the 21st record in 22 days. The average price has risen 17 days in a row and in 23 of the past 24. In that time, prices increased 98.5 cents, including 14.2 cents Wednesday, its largest increase since July 14, 2015.
Riverside County’s price hike Thursday is 74.5 cents more than a week ago, 99.5 cents higher than a month ago and $1.889 greater than one year ago. San Bernardino’s prices hit $5.69, up 13 cents in a day.
Oil prices had their own swings Thursday morning, with a barrel of U.S. crude jumping as much as 5.7%, before flip-flopping between gains and losses. It was recently at $110.09, up 1.3%.
Recent surges in energy prices have raised the risk that the economy is set to struggle under a toxic cocktail of stagnating growth and persistently high inflation.
Oil’s back-and-forth moves were just some of the waves of reports buffeting markets worldwide. The European Central Bank said high inflation will push it to wrap up its bond-buying program meant to boost its economy faster than expected. In the U.S., a report showed that consumer prices leaped 7.9% in February from a year earlier. It’s the sharpest spike since 1982, though the reading was largely within expectations.
Staff, City News Services and The Associated Press contributed to this report.