Riverside County Gas Prices Continue To Spike

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County rose 1.8 cents Thursday to $3.747. The average price has increased 10 consecutive days, increasing 17.5 cents, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It is 13.4 cents higher than one week ago, 20.9 cents higher than one month ago and 70.5 cents greater than one year ago, and has risen 67.4 cents since the start of the year. The run of rising prices is the result of two Southern California refineries experiencing unplanned shutdowns, causing supply concerns, and an approximately 8 percent increase in the price of oil over the past month "over supply concerns resulting from the Iran sanctions and continuing falling production levels in Venezuela," Marie Montgomery of the Automobile Club of Southern California told City News Service.