Prices tumble at Valley gas pumps. Where can you find the region’s cheapest fuel?
Throughout California and much of the central San Joaquin Valley, gasoline prices are continuing to tumble relative to their peak in early May. Prices statewide and in the Valley fell by an average of about seven cents per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline just in the past week.
In the Valley, prices at the pump are about 25 cents lower than their peak in early May, but are 50 to 60 cents higher than three months ago, according to AAA Gas Prices.
Fresno County’s average price on Monday was $3.84 per gallon, down from $3.91 on June 10. But people willing to shop around for bargains could find stations in the county with prices 30 to 40 cents cheaper, according to GasBuddy.com, a mobile app and website on which users report the prices they observe in real time.
GasBuddy’s site on Monday showed the cheapest gas prices in Fresno at a pair of Costco membership stores. At both the Costco on North Abby Street, north of Herndon Avenue in north Fresno, and on West Shaw Avenue near Highway City, users reported the price for regular unleaded at $3.39 per gallon.
But in neighboring Kings County, the average price per gallon on Monday was more than 12 cents lower than a week ago, AAA Gas Prices reported. The average price for regular unleaded gasoline in the Hanford /Corcoran market was $3.72 per gallon, the third lowest of 31 fuel markets in California.
That Kings County average price of $3.72, however, pales in comparison to what GasBuddy users found in Lemoore. Several stations in and around Lemoore had regular unleaded priced at under $3 per gallon. A Fastrip convenience store at 18th Avenue and Cinnamon Drive had the lowest reported price at $2.74 per gallon, while a Sinclair station in downtown Lemoore was selling gas for $2.82 per gallon.
South of Lemoore, at the Yokut Gas station near the Tachi Palace Casino and Hotel, prices were reported at $2.79 per gallon.
The California market with the highest average price on Monday was San Luis Obispo /Atascadero /Paso Robles, at $4.01 per gallon. The cheapest average price in any market was in El Centro, in Southern California’s Imperial Valley, at $3.65 per gallon.
Nationwide, the average price for regular unleaded was $2.66 per gallon.
