There is a collective groan among drivers across San Diego County as the average price of regular self-serve gasoline in San Diego County increased for the 19th consecutive day to $5.763 on Sunday.
This comes one day after recording its smallest increase since Feb.28 by 1.3 cents.
According to the American Automotive Association and Oil Price Information Service, the total price of gasoline has increased by $1.019, including by at least ten cents between March 4 and Thursday.
It is 43.6 cents more than one week ago, $1.055 higher than one month ago, and $1.893 greater than one year ago.
According to Doug Shupe, the Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate communications and programs manager, smaller increases comes as the United Arab Emirates announced it would increase oil production and "encourage other OPEC members to do the same, prompting oil prices to drop.
Brent crude oil is the global benchmark and accounts for approximately 80 percent of the world’s crude oil.
The price of a barrel of Brent Crude on the intercontinental Exchange dropped $16.84 to $111.14 on Wednesday, which is its biggest decline recorded since April 2020. Wednesday’s drop comes after prices rose to $127.98 on Tuesday, it's the highest price since July 2008.
The price dropped down to $109.33 on Thursday but rose to $112.67 on Friday.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Crude Oil accounts for slightly more than half of the pump price.
The price of gasoline accounts for other factors such as production costs, distribution costs, overhead costs for all involved in the production, distribution, and sales, and the carbon offset paid by refineries.
Legislators in California are scrambling to find solutions or at least temporary relief to the eye-popping gas prices. San Diego County Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmon have co-authored a letter on Monday requesting the suspension of California’s 51 cents a gallon tax for one year.
The state’s gas tax is the second-highest in the nation and it is scheduled to increase about 3 cents in July.
Newsom made a proposal in January to pause July’s tax increase. According to analysis from the Legislative Analyst Office, the state could lose about $523 million in revenue if the tax increase was halted which would impact funding for highway projects in a couple of years.
Last week during his State of the State address, Newsom hinted at submitting a proposal for a tax rebate to “put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas price”.
According to a spokesperson for the governor, it is not clear who will get the money and how much they will get.
