LA Auto Club: Weekend Gas Watch Expands to Give Southern California Travelers a National Outlook

LOS ANGELES--Dec. 12, 2003--Beginning this week, the Automobile Club of Southern California expands its Weekend Gas Watch to give Southern California travelers a national perspective on gasoline prices. Since many Southland residents rent cars when they travel throughout the country to visit loved ones or for vacation, the national roundup will be a permanent fixture of the Weekend Gas Watch.

Currently, the average price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $1.692 per gallon, which is 2.8 cents lower than last week. This price is 1 cent lower than last month and 15 cents higher than last year. In San Diego, the price is $1.715, which is 2.8 cents below last week's level, three-tenths of a cent above last month and 10 cents higher than last year. Motorists in the Central Coast pay an average price of $1.802, which is 2 cents lower than last week's price, 1 cent below last month and 20 cents higher than last year.

"Motorists are getting an early holiday present with gas prices falling throughout Southern California and all over the country," said Carol Thorp, Auto Club spokesperson. "It's a nice gift, but conditions indicate that we are at or near the bottom for pump prices. Unless there is an interruption in supply, we expect prices to remain near this level through the end of the month."

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline at metropolitan destinations throughout the nation. Average prices as of 12:01 a.m., Dec. 12, 2003:

Area                      Regular   Change from    Record Price
                                     last week 

Los Angeles-Long Beach    $1.692    -2.8 cents     $2.167 (3/22/03)

San Diego                 $1.715    -2.8 cents     $2.211 (3/20/03)

Santa Barbara-
Santa Maria-Lompoc        $1.802    -2.0 cents     $2.233 (8/27/03)

Las Vegas                 $1.673    -3.0 cents     $2.063 (3/25/03)

Phoenix                   $1.531    -1.4 cents     $2.146 (8/26/03)

    Southern California residents traveling by plane this weekend can
expect the following prices at cities around the country:

Area                      Regular   Change from    Record Price
                                     last week

National Average          $1.475    -0.9 cents     $1.737 (8/30/2003)

New York                  $1.759    -1.2           $1.968 (9/6/2003)

Washington, D.C.          $1.600    -0.1           $1.797 (5/16/2001)

Boston                    $1.552    -0.8           $1.812 (9/3/2003)

Philadelphia              $1.559    -1.4           $1.807 (9/3/2003)

Atlanta                   $1.322    -1.8           $1.589 (3/18/2003)

Miami                     $1.504    -0.5           $1.761 (3/18/2003)

Chicago                   $1.581    -1.2           $2.142 (6/19/2000)

Detroit                   $1.419    -1.3           $2.137 (6/20/2000)

Kansas City, Mo.          $1.299    -0.5           $1.790 (6/21/2000)

St. Louis                 $1.280    -3.2           $1.767 (5/17/2001)

Denver                    $1.356    -2.0           $1.780 (6/5/2001)

Dallas                    $1.403    -1.2           $1.666 (5/12/2001)

Houston                   $1.371    -0.7           $1.639 (5/12/2001)

Salt Lake City            $1.536    -0.8           $1.789 (9/4/2003)

Seattle                   $1.561    -2.4           $1.969 (9/4/2003)

San Francisco             $1.793    -1.4           $2.276 (3/19/2003)

Honolulu                  $2.008    -1.1           $2.054 (10/2/2003)

The national average price of regular gasoline has been inching downward for the past couple of weeks. Demand is high for this time of year, but there is a lot of gasoline being imported from Europe and Venezuela. Those imports have been helping to push prices lower. The national average may drop another couple of cents before the end of 2003.