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Pain At The Pump: Price Of Gasoline Expected To Spike Across Southern California

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Bad news for motorists across Southern California -- the price of gasoline is expected to spike once again.

On Friday, officials said the average price of self-serve regular gasoline is expected to increase between 20 and 30 cents by the end of the weekend. The retail state average of regular gas was $2.306 per gallon on Thursday.

According To the Automobile Club of Southern California's Weekend Gas Watch, the cause of the price jump is due to problems with the incoming summer blend of fuel. The 2015 refinery explosion that took place in Torrance is also believed to be playing a part in the price increase.

"Refineries are having distribution problems with the summer blend of gasoline, which needs to be in gas pumps by April 1," said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. "Pump prices in coming days will be affected by [this] blend of fuel, although [it is] not even being sold yet."

Officials say gasoline burns better during hot months, but costs more.

Earlier this week, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline reached the lowest levels since 2009.

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