Gasoline prices edge down in California

Problems at some of the nation’s largest refineries forced retail gasoline prices up in parts of the U.S., but California prices declined over the last week, the Energy Department said Monday.

Nationally, the average price of self-serve regular gasoline rose 6.2 cents to $3.641 a gallon, according to the Energy Department’s weekly survey of service stations. The U.S. average is 92.3 cents higher than a year earlier.

In California, the average price fell 1.6 cents to $3.778 a gallon, the Energy Department said. California prices have dropped for 10 straight weeks after peaking at $4.257 a gallon. But the state’s average is still 66.5 cents higher than a year earlier.

According to GasBuddy.com, there was a wide range of prices across California, including a low of $3.37 for a gallon of regular at a 76 station in Ontario and a high of $4.85 a gallon at a Mobil station in West Covina.

In New York futures trading, oil prices fell amid concerns that China’s economy was slowing and fears that the European debt crisis could worsen.

The U.S. oil price benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude, fell $1.05 to close at $95.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The European benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, fell $1.09 to settle at $117.24 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

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