Gas pump
Gas pump. Photo credit: Alexander Nguyen

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County rose 6.2 cents Thursday to $3.845, one day after increasing 2.8 cents.

The average price has risen 20.2 cents since Sept. 17, including 6.7 cents Sept. 18, its largest increase since July 14, 2015, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

The average price is 10.3 cents more than one week ago, 27.4 cents higher than one month ago and 14.6 cents greater than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It has risen 51 cents since the start of the year.

Wednesday and Thursday’s increases are the result of a 20% decrease in the gasoline supply from last week caused by incidents at Los Angeles-area refineries operated by Chevron and Marathon Oil and “a lack of imports” to compensate for the decrease, according to Marie Montgomery, a public relations specialist with the Automobile Club of Southern California.

“Imports take time to reach us because they all have to come by ship” from Asia, Canada and other locations, Montgomery told City News Service.

The start of the run of increases was the result of increasing oil costs caused by the attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, Montgomery said.

–City News Service