California’s motorists lead all 50 states when paying for gasoline, reporting an average price of $2.91 per gallon, according to the latest AAA Fuel Gauge Report. The ongoing refinery disruptions are blamed for the continued high prices in the state and region, however, seasonal adjustments could alter price gains.

The average price in California was $2.91 on Tuesday, $0.02 less than a week ago, a drop of $0.27 from a month ago and a savings of $0.70 from last year. All of the Northern California cities surveyed by AAA posted double-digit decreases from last month’s AAA report.

While motorists across the state are paying more at the pump, Turlock gas station prices are more in line with the national average of $2.31 per gallon recorded on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the cheapest gas in Turlock was $2.31 a gallon at Costco and the ARCO stations on Lander Avenue.

After California, the five highest costs are in Hawaii ($2.88); Nevada ($2.86); Alaska ($2.73); and both Utah and Illinois ($2.57). New Jersey ($1.99) and South Carolina ($1.97) are the only states under the $2 mark.

“As refinery scheduled maintenance is completed, other production issues are corrected, and demand experiences its seasonal decrease, AAA believes that robust domestic supplies will temper any regional price spikes and, before the end of the year, drivers could see the national average fall below $2 per gallon,” said Robert Brown, AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah vice president communication and community affairs. “This drop in the national average is dependent upon a stable crude oil price and no unexpected disruption to supply.”

The global oil market remains in flux as the continued glut of supply is tempered with geopolitical concerns especially those dealing with Middle East and Russian production. Both crude oil benchmarks, West Texas Intermediate and Brent, posted weekly gains, but there is uncertainty of the direction prices will move in the months ahead. OPEC has not changed its plans for future production but non-OPEC countries are reducing their output. News that U.S. oil rigs were cut by nine from a week ago and the weakening U.S. dollar sent WTI up by $0.20 at the end of formal trading Friday, settling at $49.63 per barrel. This represents a week-over-week gain of approximately $4 per barrel, the largest weekly increase since mid-May.