OC gas prices hit record high

The bad news for Newport-Mesa drivers got worse today as Orange County shattered its all-time record — set 24 hours ago — for the average price of a regular gallon of gasoline.

According to the Automobile Club of Southern California, the county average for the cheapest gallon today is $3.54, up one cent from Wednesday. The sum represents a 54-cent increase from a month ago and nearly the same from a year ago.

Marie Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the Automobile Club, said it was anyone’s guess how much more the numbers would climb in the coming days.

“We can’t really expect anything, but it’s been doing this for over a week in many places and slightly less than a week in Orange County,” she said. “It’s hard to know. You expect it to keep going up until it stops, but we don’t know when that is.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.