For the second time in three weeks, gasoline prices in California, which has the highest gasoline prices in the United States, were virtually unchanged from the previous week, the Automobile Club of Southern California said Friday.

The average price of a gallon of regular self-serve unleaded gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area now stands at 3.326 dollars, a half-cent more than last week, 16 cents more than last month and 16 cents more than a year ago, according to the Auto Club's latest survey of the region's gas stations.

The average price is 7.6 cents away from matching the record high of 3.402 dollars set May 13, 2006.

The average price per gallon has risen 12 consecutive weeks, including 6 cents from April 13-20 and one-tenth of a cent from April 6-13.

"Typically, price increases slow to a crawl when they're about to peak and head downward," Auto Club spokeswoman Carol Thorp said."However, malfunctions at several refinery units over the past couple of weeks have caused some unexpected shutdowns, reducing gasoline inventories and possibly adding more volatility to the fuel markets."

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

Source:Xinhua