The average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in California was $3.994 on Monday, down 6.2 cents from a week earlier, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of service stations. That's still 92.6 cents higher than at the same time last year. But it was down more than 26 cents from the May 2 peak of $4.257, leaving California in the rare position of not having the most expensive gas in the continental U.S.
"It's looking like a pretty good drop in prices in California at the moment. Hopefully, it won't come screeching to a halt in the next few weeks," said Marie Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the Automobile Club of Southern California.