The average price of a gallon of regular gas continues to steadily get lower. Today, the average is $4.58. To contrast California's prices, the national average broke a record today nearing $4.11. A barrel of oil is now at $141 today, which is four dollars down.......

Today, a barrel of oil spiked at $143.52, a (broken) record, once again. That comes at a time when the Los Angeles area has been seeing a two-week plateau in gas prices around $4.60. AAA reports gas in Los Angeles averages at $4.602, but LosAngelesGasPrices.com has gas tipping down towards $4.57. However, with oil prices spiking as they are, the change in gas prices will be seen in weeks to come. It takes three to......

As gas prices hit all-time highs, so is the Internal Revenue Service's mileage rate standard, which is currently 50.5 cents. Next Tuesday, it will be raised to 58.5 cents, a move that is usually saved for the Fall, but like with Hurricane Katrina when gas prices spiked, the IRS made a mid-year adjustment, which will last through the end of the year. Current gas prices in Los Angeles have been averaging out to a steady......

Blue = Los Angeles Average, Red = National Aveage | Via LosAngelesGasPrices.com A report has come out saying what we all already knew: California has the highest gas prices in the country. The good news is that since June 13, the prices have leveled out to a steady average of $4.60 a gallon of regular with the highest reported average on last Saturday at $4.626. Has everyone been enjoying their public transit use lately?......

Metrolink's ridership got a shot of adrenaline yesterday as ridership jumped to an all time high of 50,232 passengers -- a 15.6% increase since Tuesday for the regional commuter train service. Metro Rail has jumped 6% since last month (especially the gold line) and freeway traffic has dipped 1.5% since last year ("91.7 million miles traveled in March to 91.4 million in May"), reports the LA Times. For the last week, average gas prices in......

As gas prices have been stagnant at $4.61/gallon for regular in Los Angeles (the average is $4.075 for the country) for the past five days, John McCain is calling for, among other things, offshore drilling laws to be eased. He's obviously gaining oil industry support. Then today, President George Bush called for a lift on the ban of offshore drilling, even though it could take 10 years to get the oil "fully pumping again." Meanwhile,......

Here's a sign of the times. This bike rack at the Variety/E Channel Meridian Club building on Wilshire normally has three or four bikes on it. This day, bikes (including mine) had to be locked to parking meters because the rack was full. Related: Gas is currently averaging at $4.60 a gallon for regular in Los Angeles......

Even if it means using two gallons of gas while waiting in lines at the border, a new trend of filling up your tank in Mexico is worth it for those who have SUVs and trucks. Regular gas costs $2.54 a gallon at Pemex stations in Tijuana compared to San Diego, where it's over one-dollar higher at $4.624. Then you've got diesel at $2.20 in Tijuana vs. $5.04 in San Diego. However, one problem does......

Founder of the effort, Jasmyne Cannick participates in a 'Kiss My Gass' campaign against the high price of gasoline outside a Mobil gas station in Los Angeles on Friday, June 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) As a regular gallon of gas briefly plateaued at $4.60 over the weekend in Los Angeles (nationally, $4.08), people took to the streets to protest big oil. "If we're not mobil, we won't buy Mobil," their Kiss My Gass'......

Graph via LosAngelesGasPrices.com While the current national average for unleaded gas is $4.066 per gallon, California leads the way with a state average of $4.564, with Los Angeles' average at $4.579. "Southern California gas prices are nearly 40 percent higher than they were at this time last year and 93 percent higher than at this time in 2005," Jeffrey Spring of AAA told the Daily News. 30 days ago, gas in Los Angeles averaged......

As explained yesterday on why California has the highest gas prices in the nation, next to Alaska, stringent pollution requirements and high taxes were the main reasons. This California Energy Commission has a chart (click here to enlarge) explaining the history of gas tax increases and where they're at now, which is $0.378 between state and federal taxes. But that's not all, there's the sales tax and the gas production increase for companies to stay......

The USA National Gas Temperature Map by LosAngelesGasPrices.com Oh my, look at California. The darkest state of them all... on this map, at least. In fact, California currently has the second most expensive gas in the country next to Alaska, whose current average price of a regular is $4.572. The Golden State sits 6-cents below at 4.510 (and Los Angeles is around $4.50). Why does California have some of the highest prices? In a......

As the average price for a gallon of gas tips over $4 across the country (in Los Angeles, the average is about $4.46 for regular), the Senate will vote today on a "windfall tax" that would snag some of the top oil company's profits at the tune of $17 billion -- in other words, the tax breaks they would expect in the next ten years. $36 billion was earned by the top five oil companies......

The rising price of gas is nothing new, but these past seven days, a gallon of gas has jumped up 27 cents. Prices have not increased at this pace since August 2003. One year ago, gas prices were about one dollar less than today's Los Angeles average of $4.38 per gallon of regular. "The Auto Club says California refineries are producing more diesel fuel and less gasoline, creating a need to import more costly unleaded......

LAist Featured Photos contributor Marshall Astor titled this photo "Holy Fuck Part Deux! Thrifty Gas in San Pedro Goes for Broke." He continues to say "this gas station's prices have gone nuts, but every time I drive by, there's some moron at the pump getting gouged. "For reference, I paid $4.01 at a nearby station last week, and most other nearby stations are in the low $4.10-20 range. "I'm expecting this pump to hit $5.00......

Photo on the 10 Freeway by billaday via Flickr Averaging at just about $4.19 for a gallon of regular gas on Sunday in the Los Angeles area, prices continue to increase with an unknown end in site. The ripple effect is still unknown, but people are noticing some freeways thinning out and Metro is reporting record high numbers of ridership. Keeping all this in mind, the Daily News brings up some interesting figures: As......

A converted biodiesel car | Photo by Jessica DeWinter Oil's gone up in price, and therefore gas. Food has followed including the price of second hand grease from restaurants used for cars after its turned into biodiesel. Eataries used to have to pay to have their grease taken away, but due to the popularity of its use for greener transit, the price has more than quadrupled since 2000. Just like a new trendy crime......

Since December, oil prices have increased 42% and at that same time, Federal regulators have been investigating the U.S. oil market with a focus on possible price manipulation, according to the Associated Press. Details of the investigation have not been released, but the fact that they are even publicizing the investigation is considered an "unusual step." But to that, the feds say it is "because of today's unprecedented market conditions." The current average price of......

Copper thefts in Los Angeles could no longer be the only crime of desperation surging the city. With gas prices increasing everyday (the latest: nearly $4.11/gallon of regular unleaded), so are sales of lockable gas caps at auto stores. "We're going to start seeing some people who are normally good do bad things in these tough economic times," said LAPD Senior Lead Officer Ron Carter at a neighborhood watch meeting a few weeks ago in......

Now that the average price for regular unleaded gas in L.A. is nearing $4.07 a gallon, Metro's Gold Line is surging with customers. A record 22,231 boardings was reported for the month of March says the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Not only that, Metro's rail ridership has increased 5%. Still, the Gold Line beats all the other lines and is beginning to look like the San Fernando Valley Red Line station parking lots, which fill......

Taken on May 20th at Melrose and Fairfax | Photo by K. Moriarty via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr In the non-surprise of the day, Oil jumped up in price again--$5, making a barrel of oil now over $134. "All the usual explanations are cited: a weak dollar, production worries, and the role of speculators," noted Mark Lacter in his daily news roundup on LA Biz Observed, where oil now has a cozy quotidian......

Oil just keeps creeping up in price everyday it seems. This morning, headlines like this read "Oil Passes $120 A Barrel For First Time Ever." But don't expect today's record breaking numbers to be the cause of any immediate increases in local gas prices. According to Jeffrey Spring of AAA of Southern California, it takes three to six weeks to see the effect of oil prices at the pump. Any price increase or decrease on......

Now the predictions are really getting people's attention: "Surging crude prices, which could surpass $200 a barrel in four years on tight supplies, could push gasoline prices to as high as $7 a gallon, CIBC World Markets analysts said Thursday," MarketWatch said early this afternoon. Currently, U.S. oil is $116 a barrel, down $3.90 from Tuesday's "historic high." The national average is $3.56 and in Los Angeles, the upward trend pushes the local average to......

Taken near Olvera St. and Union Station | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist If all goes well, Assemblyman Mike Feuer's bill, AB 2321, will let Metro and local officials "go to the ballot in November to ask voters to consider a half-penny sales tax hike. That would raise at least $720 million annually in a county with a long, long list of needs," according to LA Times' Road Sage Steve Hymon wrote today. It would......

Mark Lacter at LA Biz Observed is reporting that "the per-barrel price of crude was reached in after-hours electronic trading after the Energy Department reported unexpected declines in U.S. crude inventories and refinery operating rates." That means a barrel is now $115.31 easily tipping gas over $4 in the Los Angeles area. "Prices are up 4.4 percent this week and 82 percent from a year ago," reports Bloomberg. Lacter reports regular is going for $3.95......

This photo was taken on April 6 on Alameda near Union Station by LAist Featured Photos contributor ~db~. This afternooon, The Guardian reports that "oil surged to a record high over $112 a barrel on Wednesday after a government report showed a sharp drop in U.S. inventories ahead of the summer driving season." LosAngelesGasPrices.com has a chart and if you take a look at this link you might go "whoa." The average Los Angeles gas......

A gallon of gas in California is averaging $3.63, 35-cents more than the regular joe American, and yesterday, a barrel of oil topped $111 (this time last year, it was $57). But as the San Francisco Chronicle explains, this isn't about supply and demand. Rather, it's the dollar and they break it down: Oil is traded in dollars. A weak dollar means that foreign investors can buy more oil, which helps drive up the price.......

Photo by Jonathan Alcom via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr This is last Friday as reported by LAist Featured Photos contributor Jonathan Alcom: "A gallon of regular gasoline priced at 3.99 at a Unocal gas station on Pico Bl and Barrington in West Los Angeles on Friday March 7, 2008 as surging oil prices jumped to a new record above $106 Friday. This gas station was about 40 cents higher than other......

Begging the question of "how much does gasoline cost in Riverside", a man was discovered carrying 125 gallons of gasoline in his van when witnesses saw vapors rising from his parked love machine. The fumes were occurring because the gentleman had placed the fuel in bottles like what once contained laundry detergent and other containers not designed to carry gasoline in vans. "It was just unbelievable," Battalion Chief Jeff Dredla told the Riverside Press......

LAist is on a secret road trip. We had heard the magic and majesty of Route 66 so we left LA at 4:20p, got an oil change in Pomona and the mechanic recommended about $250 of other minor repairs. We had some work to do and wifi was flowing so we flipped him the credit card and said go for it. Because, you see, our road trip doesn't end in Chicago where the most......