Sonoma County will see cheaper gas for Christmas

Motorists may find their Christmas stockings stuffed with bargain-priced gasoline this year, thanks to a crude oil glut and the annual conversion to California’s cheaper winter-blend gas.

The average price at the pump in Santa Rosa was $2.66 for a gallon of regular gas on Monday, down 13 cents from a month ago and 38 cents lower than a year ago, according to the AAA Fuel Price Gauge.

Four local gas stations were selling it for $2.39 and nine more posted prices below $2.50, according to the GasBuddy.com website. For drivers who failed to shop around, four local stations were pumping gas for more than $2.70 a gallon.

If current trends continue, the average price here will fall to a range of $2.44 to $2.54 by the end of December, Will Speer, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com, said Monday.

Across the nation, gasoline prices averaged less than $3 a gallon in all 50 states, ranging from a high of $2.81 in Hawaii to a low of $1.81 in Michigan, the AAA said.

Shale oil production in the United States, coupled with ongoing vigorous pumping by OPEC, created a glut of crude oil, putting downward pressure on retail gasoline prices, Speer said. Weaker demand from China and the prospect of increased oil exports from Iraq and Iran also helped depress prices, analysts said.

Prices for both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell about 10 percent for November, both finishing below $45 a barrel on Monday, Reuters reported. Both are grades of crude oil used as benchmarks in oil pricing.

Closer to home, West Coast refineries are wrapping up their fall maintenance, boosting gasoline production for California at the same time the state switches to cheaper winter-blend gasoline. Refineries mix cheap butane into their product in the winter, boosting the amount of gas made for every gallon of crude oil.

But California remains an expensive place to drive, with the statewide average price of $2.70 a gallon well above the national average of $2.04 on Monday.

Of the 25 metropolitan areas surveyed by the AAA, San Luis Obispo had the highest average price at $2.92, while Yuba City was lowest at $2.41.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.