LOS ANGELES -- Last year's $3-plus gas price were no fluke on the West Coast, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News, which says drivers can expect to take a hammering at the pump come February.
"Gas is going to go north of $3 on the West Coast quite commonly in 2007," Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, told the newspaper.
Prices should fall in January, when demand hits rock-bottom, then start climbing around Valentine's Day, he said.
The outlook for 2007 [image-nocss] is harsher than in the past partly because demand continues to rise while refineries that serve California have not increased their output, Kloza said. He conservatively estimated gas prices would settle in the $3 to $3.40 range.
Prices increased in recent weeks because refineries have lowered their output while performing maintenance. California requires a special fuel because of clean-air laws, and a limited number of refineries make it. It's also a more expensive refining process.
"In California, we don't have a lot of backup sources for refined gasoline," Auto Club spokesperson Elaine Beno, told the newspaper. It was unclear if a surge in travelers around the holidays contributed to rising gas prices over the past three weeks.
Thursday's average price for a gallon of regular in Los Angeles and Long Beach was $2.63, Beno said.
A barrel of crude oil sold for $60 Thursday, according to the Web site gaspricewatch.com, which lets individuals list gas prices they see and search for other reported prices.
The nation's highest gas prices are usually found in Hawaii, but Thursday morning, Desert Center near Indio, Calif., claimed the honor of the highest price. A gallon of regular unleaded sold for $3.39 there, according to gaspricewatch.com.
Soon, that price could become commonplace. And consumers should be prepared to hear predictions as high as $4 a gallon, Kloza said. "But they tend to come from people who like to see their names quoted in newspapers," Kloza said.
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