Mar 7, 2008 3:29 am US/Pacific
Gas Prices Hit Record Highs In Southern California
The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline reached a record $3.498 in Los Angeles County Friday. The price rose 13 cents in the previous week, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.
"Record prices have typically been set in April or May, but not in March," Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring said. "Oil industry analysts say that a major reason behind this spike is large amounts of investor money pushing up prices for wholesale gasoline and oil."
The average price has risen 41.1 cents over the past three weeks, is 45 cents more than last month, and 61 cents more than this time last year.
The previous record of $3.487 was set May 9, 2007.
The Orange County average price rose as well, up 11.8 cents to $3.447 this week, 3.2 cents short of matching the record of $3.479 set May 8, 2007.
The average price in Orange County has risen 43.6 cents over the past
three weeks. The average is 44.5 cents more than last month, and 68.4 cents more than this time last year.
The price of a barrel of oil closed at a record $105.47 on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday, then fell three cents to $105.44 early Friday in Asian electronic trading.
