Find Cheap Gas In Calabasas As Fuel Costs Level For The Week

CALABASAS, CA —Gas prices increased 15 times in 16 days, but on Thursday, the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County remained unchanged for the day at $4.308.

That doesn't mean that it is that cheap at pumps near you. These days, it pays to shop around, use club memberships such as Costco or Sam's Club stations, or utilize cash discounts when it's time to fuel up.

In Calabasas, www.GasBuddy.com—a crowd-sourced gasoline price alert app— reports that the cheapest gasoline can be found at Mulholland Highway and Freedom Drive at $4.29 per gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline, as of Thursday afternoon. Nearby the Mobil station, at Las Virgines and the 101, had gasoline for $4.55 per gallon as of Thursday morning.

In Los Angeles County, the least expensive gasoline per gallon was reported in Thousand Oaks, at the Alliance station on Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Hampshire Road at $3.95 per gallon. The most expensive gasoline recorded by www.GasBuddy.com Thursday was $4.79.

The average price rose 6.2 cents over the previous 16 days, including four-tenths of a cent Wednesday, to its highest amount since May 3, 2014, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It is 3.4 cents more than one week ago, 8 cents higher than one month ago and $1.23 greater than one year ago.

The average price has risen $1.076 since the start of the year because of a sharp increase in the oil price and increased demand due to more people driving to work, according to Jeffrey Spring, the Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate communications manager.

The Orange County average price rose a half-cent to $4.269, one day after a run of nine increases in 10 days ended when it dropped one-tenth of a cent. It is 3.5 cents more than one week ago, 9.4 cents higher than one month ago and $1.213 greater than one year ago.

On Thursday, the cheapest Orange County gasoline was being pumped at Sam's Club in Fountain Valley, according to GasBuddy.com at $3.79 per gallon of regular, unleaded. The highest gas prices in Orange County were upwards of $4.49 per gallon of regular, unleaded in San Clemente at the 76 station on Camino De Los Mares and I-5.

The Orange County average price has risen $1.061 since the start of the year to its highest amount since July 16, 2015, including 68.1 cents during a run of 72 increases in 73 days that ended March 20.

The large price increases from one year ago were partially the result of significant decreases during the early stage of the coronavirus pandemic when driving and demand dropped substantially because of stay-at-home orders intended to reduce the spread of the virus.

Where did you last fuel up? Let us know what price you're paying at the pump in the comments.

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.