Rita Could Fuel L.A. Gas Price Hike

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Gasoline prices in Los Angeles continued declining this week, but the threat of Hurricane Rita to the oil-producing regions of the Gulf Coast may send gas prices up again like Katrina did weeks ago, said the Automobile Club of Southern California.


As of Friday, nearly 30 percent of U.S. refining capacity was shuttered along the Gulf coast ahead of Rita’s landfall. The National Hurricane Center expects Rita to land somewhere between southwestern Louisiana and upper Texas coasts. Texas’ oil refining centers are in Galveston, Houston and Corpus Christie. The storm was downgraded to a Category 3 Hurricane on Friday.


The average price for regular self-serve unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area dipped 3.2 cents to $2.944 on Friday from $2.976 one week ago. Prices haven’t reached a new record high since Sept. 6. The price was $2.801 per gallon one month ago and $2.081 one year prior.


“Hurricane Rita is already sending oil and wholesale gasoline prices higher in eastern states,” said Auto Club spokeswoman Carol Thorp. “In effect, it’s a repeat of what Katrina caused in energy markets four weeks ago. However, it’s too soon to tell how much of an impact we’ll see in California.”


The Orange County area had the lowest average price in Southern California, slipping 3.7 cents to $2.910. The Bakersfield area had the highest gas price for the third straight week, falling 6.2 cents to $3.067. Of all the areas surveyed, only the Bakersfield and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc areas had average prices above the $3-a-gallon mark on Friday.


The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline as of 12:01 a.m. each Friday.

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