After slowing down, local gas prices pick up speed

The weekly increase was about a nickel a gallon, with the average price of regular in the L.A. area reaching $4.293, according to the government survey. Of course, that's just the average - it's not hard to find $5+ prices in parts of Socal, especially for the premium grades. I paid close to $70 a fill up my tank yesterday, which is $40 more than the price a couple of years ago. There's little indication that prices are heading down (oil was trading today at over $113 a barrel), though the increases appear to be slowing down.