Gap Between National Gas Price And Bay Area Hits Record High

BAY AREA, CA — Gas prices in the Bay Area for the month of July dropped since last year, but the gap between local and national prices was the largest since record keeping began, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At $3.71 per gallon, Bay Area gas prices last month were 7.8 cents lower than they were last July, while the difference between local prices and the national average of $2.84 was the largest at about 31 percent since comparable data became available in 1978, according to the BLS.

A year ago, consumers in the Bay Area paid about 29 percent more than the national average for a gallon of gasoline.

The local price of a gallon of gas has ranged from 21.8 to 30.9 percent above the national average the past five years in the month of July, according to the BLS.

—Bay City News