Gas Prices Drop for 52nd Time

Gas prices have fallen for the 52nd time in 53 days in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, causing the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline to drop 1.3 cents to $3.841.

That's the lowest gas has been since March 3, City News Service reported.

The average price also is 7.4 cents less than it was one week ago and 23.2 cents less than it was a month ago. But it's still 72.4 cents higher than a year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

According to prices listed on GasBuddy.com (which is user-reported within the past 48 hours,) a gallon of regular gasoline at the Mobil gas station on PCH in Hermosa Beach is slightly above average at $3.89. Midgrade is $4.03, and premium is $4.13.

Analysts credit the decrease to the declining cost of crude oil. Despite a $1.98 increase to $92.59 in trading, the price of a barrel of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange has fallen 18.7 percent since reaching a two-year high of $113.93 on April 29.

Crude oil costs account for two-thirds to three-quarters of the price of a gallon of gasoline, said Tupper Hull, a spokesman for the Western States Petroleum Association, which represents oil companies in six western states.

— City News Service contributed to this report.