Gas prices took us on a wild ride in 2019. Here’s what Valley drivers paid this year
Gasoline prices took drivers throughout the central San Joaquin Valley on a wild ride in 2019, wobbling up and down by more than a dollar per gallon in most markets in the region.
On Monday, the average price for regular unleaded gasoline in Fresno was $3.51 per gallon. That’s more than 60 cents lower than this year’s peak price of $4.12 per gallon in mid-October. But data from AAA Gas Prices and GasBuddy.com shows it is well above where the year began at $3.17 per gallon on Jan. 1, and the year’s lowest price of $3.07 in early February.
The average prices in Fresno and other Valley communities are generally at their lowest point since September, when maintenance issues at refineries on the West Coast sent prices spiking to their highest levels in five years in mid-October. Once refineries completed their work and restored full production, drivers have felt the relief as average prices fell by about 15% by year’s end.
But “low” prices for California, which has some of the highest gasoline taxes in the nation, are a relative matter. California’s average gasoline prices are second highest in the nation behind Hawaii, where the average for regular unleaded was $3.65 per gallon on Monday.
Nationally, the average price for regular unleaded on Monday was $2.58 per gallon, nearly a dollar less than California’s statewide average of $3.57 per gallon. While prices continue to dip in California, both AAA Gas Prices and GasBuddy.com reported that the nationwide average rose over the past week for the first time in almost two months.
“The streak has been broken: for seven straight weeks we saw the national average drop,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “But the fun has come to an end as oil prices continue to show strength into the last days of 2019, boosting the national average this week.”
An increase in travel by motorists nationwide over the winter holidays was also credited – or blamed – for pushing the national average higher by about four cents per gallon over the past week. Jeanette Casselano, a AAA spokesperson, attributed falling prices in the western U.S. to an increase in gasoline stocks even as driving demand remained strong.
Both DeHaan and Casselano indicated Monday that they expect prices to fall lower after the holidays. “Weakness will likely return to gasoline prices in January and February as demand weakens, so perhaps all is not lost,” DeHaan said.
