Business & Tech

New Year, New Record: How to Save at the Gas Tank

Crude oil finished at $99 a barrel on the last trading day of 2012; use our gas app to lower your costs at the tank

 

Gasoline prices started off the year at high, breaking previous records for Jan. 1 crude oil costs, and worrying analysts of future price hikes. 

The soaring prices can be partially blamed on the regular winter gas lull, as motorists drive less. But, fears that Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa might cut oil supplies, crude oil rose 19 percent in 2011, reported the Press Democrat.

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The price hike hits especially hard in California, where oil is taxed at higher-than-federal rates.

Crude oil finished at nearly $99 a barrel on Friday, the final trading day of 2011.

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California, as usual, had the third most expensive gasoline in the nation on Monday at $3.63 a gallon, 35 cents higher than the national average of $3.28.

Only Alaska at $3.87 and Hawaii at $4 had higher prices.

California has the nation's highest local, state and federal taxes on gasoline at 67.7 cents per gallon.

In Sonoma, prices are slightly lower than county norms, hanging at just over $3.50 per gallon – well under the $4.10 highs last 

We've heard from commuters who've taken to and to avoid filling up at the tank. Still others drive long distances, and our tethered to crude oil fluctuations.

What can you do if you’re bound to your car for your commute? Check out to cut your gas bill at the pump.

And bookmark Sonoma Patch's Traffic and Gas widget, which gives updates on the cheapest place to fill your tank. (Today, fill your tank at Sonoma Beacon, 18618 Highway 12, for $3.50 exactly.)


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