After Hitting Record High, LA County Gas Price Drops For 8 Straight Days
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – After hitting a record high, an eight-day streak of decreases to the average price of a gas in Los Angeles County ended Monday.
The average price for a gallon of regular in L.A. County Monday morning stood at $4.69, unchanged from Sunday.
The average price dropped 2.6 cents during the eight-day streak, including three-tenths of a cent both Saturday and Sunday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.
The streak of decreases followed a run of 16 increases in 18 days totaling 12.5 cents that boosted the average price to a record $4.716 on Nov. 27.
The average price is $1.54 higher than one year ago.
The dropping pump prices are the result of a significant drop in the price of crude oil and "because this is traditionally the time of year with the lowest demand," said Jeffrey Spring, the Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate communications manager.
The price of a barrel of West Texas intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange has dropped 21.72% from its 52-week high of $84.65 hit Oct. 26, 2021, to $66.26 Friday.
Crude oil costs account for slightly more than half of the pump price, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)