Gasoline prices dropped for the seventh consecutive week this week in Southern California, which has the highest gasoline prices in the nation, the Automobile Club of Southern California said Friday.

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded now stands at 3.147 dollars a gallon in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area, 4.4 cents less than last week, 26 cents less than last month and 3 cents less than at this time last year, according to the Auto Club's Weekend Gas Watch survey.

After rising for 14 consecutive weeks, the average price fell 6. 4 cents from June 15-22, 7.8 cents from June 8-15, 5.1 cents from June 1-8,3.9 cents from both May 25-June 1 and May 18-25, and two cents from May 11-18.

"News reports on Thursday revealed that U.S. gasoline inventories have dipped significantly in the last week because of reduced imports," Auto Club spokeswoman Carol Thorp said. "It's unclear whether that is a temporary situation or a trend that will impact prices at the pump."

The Auto Club provided this breakdown of gasoline prices in selected portions of California and Nevada as of 12:01 a.m. on Friday.

Source: Xinhua