Gas Prices May Be Ready To Rise Again

The summer decline in gasoline prices may be nearing an end.

Officials at the California State Automobile Association say prices at the pumps have started to inch back up over the past week in most of the state.

Prices stabilized in the East Bay, but CSAA officials say motorists should prepare for an increase over the rest of the summer.

“There has been huge volatility with crude oil prices recently, which is reflected in the gas prices that consumers are seeing at the pump,” said AAA Northern California spokesperson Matt Skryja. “This recent jump in pump prices across many parts of Northern California comes as demand for gasoline rose over the last week. Prior to that, demand had dropped the last two weeks in June.”

The average price nationwide for a gallon of unleaded regular is $3.64, according to a CSAA tracking site. That's an increase of 8 cents from last week but a decrease of 7 cents from a month ago.

In California, the average price for regular unleaded is $3.78, the same as last week. It's still 16 cents less than in mid-June.

In the East Bay, the average pump price is $3.77, also the same as a week ago. It's 15 cents cheaper than a month ago.

Many communities in the region showed little change in prices over the past week.

In Walnut Creek, the price range on mapquest's tracking site shows stations selling unleaded regular for between $3.79 and $3.85 a gallon.

In San Ramon, the price range is $3.79 to $3.87.

Castro Valley continues to have some of the cheaper prices with a range of $3.73 to $3.79 a gallon.

Livermore continues to have the widest range of prices from $3.65 to $3.93.

On the gasbuddy site, the cheapest station listed are mostly in the eastern Contra Costa communities of Antioch, Oakley and Brentwood.

The Costco in Livermore remains one of the cheapest places to buy gas, with unleaded regular at $3.59 a gallon.