Los Angeles gas prices fall for 16th day in a row, likely to keep dropping
LOS ANGELES — Drivers are finally breaking down and paying less at the pump, and the city with the world’s highest rate of traffic is getting the worst of it.
Gas prices across Northern California dropped to their lowest level in at least eight years, and have fallen from a nine-year high on a single day.
Prices in the Los Angeles area reached $4.26 a gallon on Monday, down 32% from their September record high of $6.09 in September 2003, according to AAA. The last time gasoline costs below $3.00 was in March 2002, during Hurricane Donna.
The drop comes as another major pipeline in Northern California has begun to deliver gas, and even more pipelines are expected to come online this year. That is expected to add more than 3 billion cubic feet to the state’s underground supply, which currently stands at 6 billion cubic feet.
Gasoline futures for Nov. 2 showed a 5-point drop Monday at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
“Prices have fallen to the lowest they’ve been in a decade, and are likely to fall further. There are too many pipelines coming online this fall. There’s no excuse to keep paying more,” said Andrew Kasanof, executive vice president of the AAA Mid-Atlantic region.
“We’re not looking for a recession here,” Mr. Kasanof said.
In the last 12 months, gasoline prices in the city have stayed below their 2009 peak.
The city’s average posted a nine-year low of $3.24 in October, down 39.4% from a September 2009 record high of $3.98.
Gasoline prices in West Hollywood reached $3.99 on Monday, down 28.7% from a September record high of $5.20.
The average in Santa Monica and Ventura County reached $3.99, down 15.7% from a record high of $4.99 in September