Gas Prices Jump 12 Cents Overnight
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County jumped 12.1 cents to $3.396, the largest daily increase since Oct. 6, 2012 and the highest amount since Oct. 28 of last year.
The price of gas has been on the rise for 28 days, rising 90.7 cents, including an 8-cent jump on Thursday, according to figures from AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
The average price is 46 cents more than a week ago, and 93.1 cents higher than a month ago.
Orange County gas prices leaped even higher, rising 14.7 cents Friday to $3.387, its highest amount since Oct. 27.
The Orange County average price is 46.1 cents higher than a week ago and 94.4 cents more than a month ago.
"The Torrance refinery incident of last week is clearly a major cause of this jump that is giving Southern California drivers higher fuel bills than even Wailuku, Maui, traditionally the most expensive place in the country to buy gas," said Jeffrey Spring, the corporate communications manager of the Automobile Club of Southern California, referring to the Feb. 18 explosion that caused a partial shutdown of the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, reducing the gasoline supply.
"With wholesale prices jumping further by 20 cents on Wednesday for a net increase of $1.40 since Jan. 15, we can expect even more possibly hefty pump price increases in the coming days."
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