Gas Price 'Relief' Coming To RivCo In The Weeks Ahead: Analyst

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County dropped a half-cent Tuesday to $5.285, one day after remaining unchanged.

The average price is 1.8 cents less than one week ago, but 26.4 cents more than one month ago and 46.5 cents higher than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It has dropped $1.088 since rising to a record $6.373 on Oct. 5, 2022.

The national average price dropped two-tenths of a cent to $3.657, the third consecutive day it has changed by two-tenths of a cent. It rose two- tenths of a cent Monday and dropped two-tenths of a cent Sunday.

The national average price is 1 cent less than one week ago, but 12.1 cents more than one month ago and 4.6 cents higher than one year ago. It has dropped $1.359 since rising to a record $5.016 on June 14, 2022.

"For the first time since February, the nation's average price of gasoline has seen a weekly drop," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which provides real-time gas price information from more than 150,000 stations.

"With more confidence every day, it appears the spring top is in: average gas prices have started to cool off in many areas. For now, few Americans need to worry that gas prices are going to skyrocket; the risk appears to be behind us, with relief coming in the weeks ahead.

"While the latter half of the summer could potentially see hurricane-related issues, I do sense we've hit the top for now, and Americans should be optimistic that this summer will be very similar to last year, in line with our early 2024 expectations and likely not featuring record gasoline prices. I'm quite excited the seasonal rise in gas prices appears to be over."