Where To Fill Up In Temecula Before Thanksgiving Travel

TEMECULA, CA ? If you're heading out of town, it's a great time to fill up in Temecula, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore.

A run of six slight increases in seven days to the average price of a gallon of self-service regular gasoline in Riverside County totaling 1.5 cents ended Tuesday when it was unchanged, remaining at $4.337. In Southwest Riverside County, fill up for as cheap as $4.04 at Sam's Club, or $4.07 at Costco, according to the latest on GasBuddy.com.

The average price is 1.3 cents more than one week ago but 7.5 cents less than one month ago and 49.7 cents lower than one year ago, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It has dropped $2.036 since rising to a record $6.373 on Oct. 5, 2022.

The national average price rose 1.1 cents to $3.067 after remaining unchanged two of the previous three days. It is four-tenths of a cent more than one week ago but 6.9 cents less than one month ago and 18.6 cents lower than one year ago.

The national average price has dropped $1.949 since rising to a record $5.016 on June 14, 2022.

"Ahead of Thanksgiving, motorists continue to be teased by the prospect of a $2.99 per gallon national average, a level now seen in 32 states, but for the last few weeks, the stars just haven't quite aligned," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which provides real- time gas price information from more than 150,000 stations.

"Last week, Russia's threats after Ukraine used long-range U.S. missiles pushed oil prices back above $70 per barrel. Some promotions ahead of Thanksgiving are pushing gas prices back down, even as oil remains elevated. For now, we're just pennies away from the national average falling to $2.99, but for a third year, we may again fall short.

"As Americans prepare to hit the road for Thanksgiving, we're seeing the lowest national average price of gasoline since 2021, with a far better economic picture than when gas prices were last this low."