Average San Diego Gasoline Price Falls Below $6 At $5.98 For First Time Since September

By Debbie L. Sklar, Times of San Diego

October 18, 2022

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County recorded its largest decrease since at least 2018 Tuesday, dropping 7.2 cents to $5.985, falling below $6 for the first time since Sept. 27.

The average price has dropped 13 consecutive days since rising to a record, decreasing 45 cents, including 1.4 cents Monday, according to figures from the AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. The decreases follow a run of 32 increases in 33 days totaling $1.213.

The average price is 31.1 cents less than one week ago, but 59.5 cents more than one month ago and $1.542 higher than one year ago.

The national average price dropped 1.8 cents to $3.87, one day after a five-day streak of decreases totaling 3.5 cents ended when it was unchanged. It is 5.3 cents less than one week ago, but 19.2 cents more than one month ago and 54.5 cents higher than one year ago.

The national average price is $1.146 less than the record $5.016 set June 14.

“After a sharp rise in the national average over the last few weeks, we’ve seen an abrupt, yet expected decline as refinery issues have eased in the West and Great Lakes, overpowering some increases elsewhere,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which provides real-time gas price information from more than 150,000 stations.

“We’ll see a continued sharp drop in gas prices on the West Coast, including areas like Las Vegas and Phoenix, which are supplied by refiners in California, as refinery outages have been addressed.”

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