A six-day streak of decreases to the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County totaling 2.9 cents ended Monday when it rose two-tenths of a cent to $4.643.
The streak began one day after the end of a 19-day streak of increases totaling 12.5 cents that boosted the average price to its highest amount since Oct. 12, 2012, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.
The average price is 2.7 cents less than one week ago but 9.8 cents more than one month ago and $1.486 higher than one year ago.
The declining 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.
