“That’s a pretty good drop for Southern California,” she said.
Prices were within reach of all-time highs at the end of 2007, which makes recent declines even more numerically significant, she added.
“Because of the financial markets and the price of crude per barrel, we started at this high level and then the prices started to drop rapidly,” she said.
Drivers on Tuesday evening had noticed the price drop, but did not expect to see the trend continue.
“It’s always nice to see them lower,” Northridge resident Rosa Gonzales said. “But I don’t think it will last a long time.”
Any movement in prices does not seem significant, in light of already soaring costs, said Tom Spencer, 37, of Los Angeles
“It’s still too high,” he said “I’m not going to get excited about it unless it goes under $3.”
Industry analysts are uncertain what the coming months will have in store for gas prices, Beno said.
“We’re not able to predict what gas prices are going to be doing from week to week because the financial markets are not predictable,” she said.
“So we cannot say what’s going to happen next week because the markets are going to be fluctuating.”
Oil refinery activity has significant impact on the gas supply and, likewise, how much gas costs.
Things like outages and scheduled and unscheduled maintenance can cause prices to fluctuate, she said.
Some increases will be inevitable in March, when state laws require manufacturers to switch from their winter blends to a more environmentally friendly summer blend of gasoline, which is more expensive to make, Beno said.
“It’s a special blend that not everybody in the country uses,” she said.
“So we pay more for it, but have the benefit of better air.”
