The 32nd consecutive increase pushed the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County above $6 for the first time Saturday, just 22 days after it topped $5 for the first time.
The average price rose 1.2 cents to $6.011, according to figures released by the AAA and Oil Price Information Service Saturday. The average price has risen $1.267 during the streak, including 1.8 cents Friday. It is 12.3 cents more than one week ago, $1.178 higher than one month ago, and $2.072 greater than one year ago.
"I think the gas prices are going to continue to go up a few cents at a time given that the price of crude oil has actually crept up over the last week," said Shon Hiatt, an associate professor at USC Marshall School of Business and faculty affiliate. "Because remember it's about a 7-10 day lag from the price of crude to what we see at the pump when prices rise and then when the price of the crude goes down, it's more like a three-week effect for when we see the prices at the pump go down."
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A missile attack on an oil distribution facility in Saudi Arabia caused another set of increases to the price of a barrel of Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe, which is likely to mean further increases to pump prices.
The price gained $12.72 per barrel this week, settling at $120.65 on Friday, $7.33 less than its 52-week high of $127.98 on March 8.
Crude oil costs account for slightly more than half of the pump price, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The rest of the price includes the other components of gasoline, production costs, distribution costs, overhead costs for all involved in the production, distribution and sales, taxes, and carbon offset fees in California paid by the refineries.
