Cost of Fuel May Be at Low Point

The cost to fill up the tank may be near the low point for the year, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. The price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in L.A. stood at $3.18 in the week before the long July 4th holiday weekend. While that amount is $0.74 higher than one year ago, the increase is actually muted compared to recent jumps in the cost of fuel in the L.A. area, which hit a high on May 30 at $3.40 a gallon. It is also $0.33 lower than that during last week in June and $0.18 less than last month. “Demand for gas has been building through June and that’s slowed the downward trend in pump prices,” said Auto Club spokesman Paul Gonzales, in a statement. “Currently, there are sufficient supplies of oil and gas to meet our needs. But investors are bidding up prices because the margin between supply and demand is very thin. Any interruptions caused by hurricanes, rolling brownouts or pipeline problems could impact prices.” It is the seventh straight week of decreases for fuel in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area. Nationally, a regular gallon of gas came in at $2.87 last week, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.