Murrieta's 2023 Gas Price Forecast: Drivers Prepare For Uncertain Year (2024)

Community Corner

How much is the cheapest gas in town this week? And what can Murrieta drivers expect at the pump in 2023? Here's what we know.

Posted Thu, Dec 29, 2022 at 7:00 am PT

In the last week of 2022, the cheapest fuel in Murrieta was at Sam's Club, GasBuddy.com reports. As of midday Wednesday, self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was selling for $3.75 per gallon, according to the app. It pays to shop around a bit, according to the crowdsourced fuel price app. The highest cost for filling up in Murrieta this week was at the California Oaks Road and California Oaks Plaza Shell station, at $4.50 per gallon of regular unleaded, 75 cents more expensive per gallon.

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Riverside County rose Wednesday for the fourth time in five days following a 42-day streak of decreases, increasing two-tenths of a cent to $4.297.

For 2023, drivers can expect the cost of gasoline to cool early, according to GasBuddy.com experts. Los Angeles could see top prices in 2023 hovering near $6.75 per gallon, and lowest prices falling to $5.20 per gallon, rising and falling with increases and decreases in demand, according to GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan.

As it stands, De Haan believes that 2022 would go down as "one of the most nauseating years to budget for fuel expenses and perhaps one of the most depressing," he wrote in GasBuddy's forecast report.

De Haan expressed that at the tail end of the year, as gas prices start to moderate as imbalances are worked through, Americans are going to start to feel that gas prices are no longer as much of a thorn in their side in 2023.

"2023 is not going to be a cakewalk for motorists. It could be expensive,” De Haan said. “The national average could breach $4 per gallon as early as May – and that’s something that could last through much of the summer driving season. Basically, curveballs are coming from every direction. Extreme amounts of volatility remain possible but should become slightly more muted in the year ahead. I don’t think we’ve ever seen such an amount of volatility as we saw this year, and that will be a trend that likely continues to lead to wider uncertainty over fuel prices going into 2023.”

The average price has increased 2.6 cents over the past five days, including eight-tenths of a cent Tuesday, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. It is 1.1 cents more than one week ago but 69.5 cents less than one month ago and 30.6 cents lower than one year ago.

The average price dropped $1.11 during the 42-day streak of decreasing prices. It is $2.076 less than the record $6.373 set on Oct. 5.

The national average price rose for the fourth time in five days following a 44-day streak of decreases totaling 70.9 cents, increasing 2.9 cents to $3.133. It has risen 3.7 cents over the past five days, including two-tenths of a cent Tuesday.

The national average price is 2.5 cents more than one week ago but 41.3 cents less than one month ago and 15.1 cents lower than one year ago.

The national average price is $1.883 lower than the record $5.016 set on June 14.

"What we saw in 2022 was simply madness at the nation’s fuel pumps, with records being set seemingly left and right as Covid imbalances persisted and Russia invaded Ukraine," De Haan said. "While it’s highly improbable that lightning strikes the same spot twice, the storm clouds over oil and refined markets may persist, and there still could be some spikes as the market remains somewhat tight."