Gasoline consumption increased 1% in the fourth quarter of 2010 when Californians consumed 3.69 billion gallons of gasoline compared to the 3.65 billion gallons of gasoline used in the fourth quarter 2009. The average price of gasoline at the pump in California during the fourth quarter of 2010 was $3.22, a 7% increase over the fourth quarter 2009’s average price of $3.01 per gallon. The national average price of gasoline during the fourth quarter of 2010 was $2.94, a 10.5% increase over the fourth quarter 2009’s average price of $2.66 per gallon.

In December 2010, gasoline consumption decreased 0.4% when Californians used 1.23 billion gallons of gasoline compared to 1.24 billion gallons consumed in December 2009. The average price of gasoline at the pump in California in December 2010 was $3.30 per gallon, an 11.5% increase compared to the gasoline price per gallon of $2.96 in December 2009. The national average price of gasoline during December 2010 was $3.05 compared to $2.66 in December 2009, which is a 14.7% increase.

Diesel consumption decreased 1.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 when Californians consumed 642 million gallons of diesel compared to 654 million gallons of diesel fuel consumed in the fourth quarter of 2009. The average price of diesel fuel in California during the fourth quarter 2010 was $3.31, a 13.7% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2009 when the price per gallon of diesel fuel in California was $2.91. The national average price of diesel fuel during the fourth quarter of 2010 was $3.15, a 15.0% increase over the fourth quarter 2009’s average price of $2.74 per gallon for diesel fuel.

Diesel sold in California during December 2010 totaled 218 million gallons compared to the December 2009 total of 232 million gallons, which is a 5.8% decrease. California diesel prices averaged $3.41 per gallon in December 2010, which is a 17.2% increase compared to December 2009’s average price of $2.91 per gallon of diesel fuel. The national average price of diesel fuel during December 2010 was $3.24, a 17.8% increase over the December 2009’s average price of $2.75 per gallon for diesel fuel.

The BOE is able to monitor gallons through tax receipts paid by fuel distributors. The figures reported monthly are net consumption that includes BOE audit assessments, refunds, amended and late tax returns, and State Controller’s Office refunds. Figures for January 2011 are scheduled to be available at the end of April 2011.